The U.S. Navy has awarded contracts worth up to $650 million to eight small American boatbuilders for the construction of composite rigid-hull inflatable boats, the Pentagon announced on May 1, 2026. The deal, issued on April 30, covers the procurement of up to 474 vessels over a ten-year period and spans three hull sizes — spreading work across eight companies operating in six states.
The contracts were awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) through its Portfolio Acquisition Executive organization, structured as firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple-award agreements. The base contract value stands at $325.9 million, with a total potential value of $650.1 million if all options are exercised over the full ten-year period. The procurement drew 15 competitive offers before the eight awardees were selected.
The Eight Awardees
As announced by the U.S. Department of Defense, the eight companies selected are ASIS Boats USA LLC (doing business as Ocean Craft Marine) of Annapolis, Maryland; Brig USA LLC (doing business as Fluid Marine Response) of Franklinton, North Carolina; Ghostworks Marine Inc. of Holland, Michigan; Ribcraft USA LLC of Marblehead, Massachusetts; St. Johns Ship Building Inc. of Palatka, Florida; Structural Composites Inc. of Melbourne, Florida; United States Marine Inc. of Gulfport, Mississippi; and The Whiskey Project Group USA LLC of Edenton, North Carolina.
Work under the contract will be carried out at each company’s primary facilities, supporting a geographically distributed industrial base across Maryland, North Carolina, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, and Mississippi. Each awardee receives a minimum contract guarantee of $1,000 to formally activate participation, with additional funding obligated at the delivery order level as the Navy places specific orders over the life of the contract. First deliveries are expected to begin by July 2026.
What Is a Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat?
The rigid-hull inflatable boat — known in the Navy as a RHIB — combines a composite rigid hull with an inflatable tube collar, giving it structural strength, high buoyancy, shock absorption, and the ability to operate in extreme weather conditions and rough seas. The 11-meter Naval Special Warfare variant is a high-speed, high-buoyancy craft capable of operating in winds up to 45 knots, carrying a crew of three and a full SEAL element of eight passengers. It is used extensively for SEAL insertion and extraction, as well as Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations organic to Navy amphibious ships.
Navy RHIBs support a broad range of missions, including search and rescue, personnel and cargo transport, force protection, maritime interdiction, and Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations. The contract also covers a specialized variant: the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Expeditionary Response Craft, or EOD MERC, which supports Navy EOD units — including Mobile Diving and Salvage Units — in locating and recovering submerged objects and ordnance and conducting expeditionary salvage operations.
Three Hull Sizes, Domestic and Foreign Military Customers
The contract covers composite RHIBs in 7-meter, 9-meter, and 11-meter hull sizes, with procurement planned for both the U.S. Navy and Foreign Military Sales partners. The inclusion of foreign military sales means allied navies will be able to order vessels through the same contract vehicle, extending the industrial and strategic reach of the award beyond domestic U.S. requirements. The procurement was conducted competitively through the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment, the Navy’s digital acquisition platform.
The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity structure of the contracts allows NAVSEA to issue orders incrementally based on operational demand, budget allocations, and evolving mission requirements — rather than committing to a single fixed order upfront. Each delivery order under the contract will be competed separately among the eight awardees, preserving ongoing competition and allowing the Navy to select the most cost-effective builder for each specific order across the ten-year period.
Part of a Larger Navy Small Boat Expansion
The RHIB contract is one component of a broader Navy effort to expand and modernize its small boat fleet. As reported by USNI News, the Naval Sea Systems Command’s Boats and Craft Program Office has been pursuing a separate, larger multiple-award contract potentially worth up to $3.5 billion for approximately 2,800 small boats, service craft, and targets across fiscal years 2026 to 2036. That broader procurement — covering utility boats, force protection craft, harbor tugs, barges, floating dry docks, and high-speed maneuvering surface target drones — is intended to stabilize the American small shipbuilding industrial base and increase the fleet’s operational readiness.
The $650 million RHIB contract specifically addresses one of the most operationally critical segments of that broader need. RHIBs are among the Navy’s most widely deployed small craft, appearing on destroyers, amphibious ships, and at shore installations worldwide. Their use has expanded significantly in recent years given renewed emphasis on maritime interdiction, force protection of naval assets in contested waters, and special operations support — all mission sets that have taken on heightened importance during the ongoing Iran conflict, in which U.S. naval forces are maintaining a blockade of Iranian ports and conducting enforcement actions in the Persian Gulf and surrounding waterways.
Small Business Focus
All eight awardees are small businesses — a deliberate feature of how the Navy structured the procurement. By limiting the competition to smaller domestic boatbuilders rather than large defense prime contractors, NAVSEA is directing the contract value to specialized maritime manufacturers that represent the core of America’s small craft industrial base. The eight companies span a range of regional markets and manufacturing approaches, from Ghostworks Marine in Holland, Michigan — a Great Lakes boatbuilding hub — to St. Johns Ship Building in Palatka, Florida and United States Marine Inc. in Gulfport, Mississippi, both of which operate in the Gulf Coast maritime corridor.
The firm-fixed-price structure of the contracts provides cost certainty for the government while giving each awardee predictable revenue expectations at the delivery order level. The ten-year term, meanwhile, allows the selected builders to invest in production capacity and workforce development with confidence in a sustained Navy customer relationship — a significant consideration for small manufacturers that might otherwise struggle to justify capital investment for a single short-term contract.
What Comes Next
With first deliveries expected as early as July 2026, NAVSEA will begin issuing delivery orders to the eight awardees, with each order competed among the pool of contract holders. The Navy has not disclosed how the 474 total boats will be distributed among the eight builders over the contract’s life, as allocation will depend on performance, pricing, and the specific requirements of each delivery order. Foreign Military Sales orders — which could add to the total volume ordered under the contract — will similarly be competed among the awardees on a case-by-case basis.
The award reflects a Navy procurement posture that prioritizes distributed, small-business sourcing for high-volume small craft needs — spreading production risk across multiple builders and multiple states rather than concentrating it in a single large shipyard. As the Navy continues to expand its small boat presence in contested maritime environments, the 474-boat RHIB contract gives it a reliable, competitively structured supply chain for one of its most operationally versatile platforms, with room to grow if options are exercised to the full $650 million ceiling.