Jaia Robotics Wins Marine Corps Contract for JaiaBot-HYDRO Aquatic Drones

13 August 2026
Edited By: Haley McQueen

Jaia Robotics, Inc., the leading developer and manufacturer of low-cost, micro-sized autonomous aquatic drones that deliver real-time data products and mission-specific payloads, has announced a $6.1 million firm-fixed-price contract to deliver JaiaBot-HYDRO systems in support of US Marine Corps hybrid littoral maneuver and amphibious operations.

Contract supports rapid littoral and amphibious operations while reducing personnel exposure to hazardous surf-zone environments. (Image credit: Jaia Robotics)

This contract includes the procurement of JaiaBot-HYDRO systems, training and support, as well as continued development and commercialization of an acoustic bathymetry variant in collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

This contract will provide the US Marine Corps (USMC) with an initial operating capability to rapidly characterize beach landing sites and other littoral environments while keeping the warfighter out of harm’s way.

“The JaiaBot Platform delivers reliable, real-time data in support of littoral maneuver and safe amphibious operation. Using pods of autonomous JaiaBots ensures our warfighters do not need to risk their lives spending hours in a surf zone collecting data manually,” said Ian Estaphan Owen, CEO. “Our team is proud to be part of a surge in robotics and autonomous systems that can scale at the speed of need to deter our adversaries from threatening the United States and our Allies in the free world.”

The award supports the Department of Defense’s mission to accelerate the deployment of advanced technologies that are force multipliers for our warfighters. Designed for rapid fielding, JaiaBot systems allow operators to scale from single-asset missions to synchronized, multi-vehicle operations within minutes. Their low cost and minimal training burden enable Marine units to collect large quantities of environmental, hydrographic, and surf-zone data at a fraction of traditional system costs.

Jaia Robotics’ team includes US Marine Corps veterans who have firsthand experience carrying out the types of challenging littoral missions that JaiaBot is designed to support.

“Operating in the littoral environment can be challenging and dangerous. Sending Marines into the surf zone to manually collect data takes time and exposes them to unnecessary risk. JaiaBot gives us the opportunity to put autonomous systems in harm’s way instead and collect critical information faster, giving Marines the quality data they need to make better decisions,” said Josh Mickles, Staff Sergeant, USMC (Ret).