Think "drone" and you're likely to think of any one of the many autonomous machines that fly through the air. But there are surface-based ocean drone ships as well, and the US Department of Defense (DoD), through its Replicator initiative, is looking to stockpile them. According to Replicator's mission, the program "will deliver all-domain attritable autonomous systems to warfighters at a scale of multiple thousands across multiple warfighting domains, within 18-24 months, or by August 2025."

With an announcement this week, Saronic has signaled that it's ready to take up the challenge.