Caravel-35
Bulwark Dynamics' autonomous 35ft landing craft with a bow ramp, built to resupply contested shores.
The Caravel-35 will be built by Japan's Onomichi Dockyard, Naval News reported on 21 September 2026, although Bulwark Dynamics is still building the first 35ft prototype. Bulwark talks of several dozen craft a year for US and allied forces.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can a Japanese yard build Bulwark's Caravel before a prototype exists?
Timeline for Caravel-35
Onomichi to build Bulwark robot landers
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
The Caravel-35 is Bulwark Dynamics' self-steering 35ft landing craft, designed to land supplies on contested shores without a port. It has a bow ramp; trade reports say it carries one 20-foot container, draws about six inches loaded, and can run onto an unimproved beach, unload and back off without a crane. A smaller sibling, the Caravel-15, shares the programme.
On 21 September 2026 Naval News reported that Onomichi Dockyard in Japan will manufacture both craft. No production craft exists yet: Bulwark is still building the first prototype. The company has raised a $6.8m seed round, and Onomichi is among its investors.
The Japanese yard gives the design an Indo-Pacific second source at a time when Western yards are short of capacity, Naval News said. Whether the Caravel-35 matters will turn on that prototype, and on whether the several dozen units a year Bulwark talks of become orders.
