Magnet Defense announced it has completed its acquisition of Metal Shark, combining Magnet Defense’s autonomous, AI-enabled maritime platform development with Metal Shark’s established shipbuilding footprint and production workforce. The companies positioned the transaction as a move to accelerate delivery of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for national security missions spanning fleet operations and missile defense, while also strengthening U.S. industrial capacity to build modern maritime platforms at scale.
Under the deal, Magnet Defense gains direct access to Metal Shark’s shipyards and manufacturing infrastructure, which it described as a pathway to move from prototype-stage development into sustained production. The combined organization will aim to deliver “AI-enabled” USVs for the U.S. military and allied partners, using Metal Shark’s facilities as the production base for programs tied to the U.S. “Golden Fleet” initiative referenced in the announcement.
Magnet Defense framed the acquisition as central to its strategy of pairing software-defined autonomy—robotics, decision-making systems, and mission architecture—with domestic, industrial-scale manufacturing. In practical terms, the company said the integration is intended to compress the timeline between design, testing, and deployment by aligning modular vessel design and autonomous capability development with modern production methods inside an existing shipbuilding operation.
Metal Shark brings more than 20 years of experience designing and constructing mission-specific vessels for defense and law enforcement customers. The shipbuilder has delivered more than 2,000 vessels worldwide, including more than 500 to the U.S. Navy and roughly 600 to the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as additional deliveries to allied military forces. Magnet Defense said that the track record, combined with the acquired engineering depth, provides immediate execution capacity for scaling production.
The operational foundation for that expansion includes two Louisiana manufacturing facilities that the company said total more than 125,000 square feet of manufacturing space spread across 40 acres. Magnet Defense emphasized that Metal Shark’s workforce and engineering organization will be integrated into the broader platform, enabling the combined business to pursue higher-volume builds and faster delivery cycles for autonomous maritime systems.
The announcement also pointed to broader market and geopolitical tailwinds, arguing that global maritime security requirements are rising while U.S. shipbuilding capacity has lagged that of peers. Magnet Defense said its approach—integrating AI-driven software, modular platforms, and modern manufacturing—aims to close that gap by delivering next-generation maritime capabilities faster and more efficiently from a U.S.-based industrial base.
