Christopher Miller
US Navy official acting as portfolio manager for robotic and autonomous systems since August 2026.
Christopher Miller said the US Navy judged bids for its 29 September 2026 order of 30 medium robot boats, split equally between Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic Technologies, on autonomy, design, schedule and cost.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Who now decides which robot boats the US Navy buys?
Timeline for Christopher Miller
Stated the bid scoring criteria
Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea: US Navy buys 30 robot boats from 3 yardsBackground
Christopher Miller is the US Navy's acting Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for robotic and autonomous systems, and acting Portfolio Acquisition Executive for the same portfolio. The Navy set up that structure on 5 August 2026. Miller previously led the Navy's Maritime portfolio acquisition office (USNI News, Breaking Defense).
The Navy's production order, made public on 29 September 2026, split 30 medium uncrewed surface vessels equally between Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic Technologies. According to Miller, bids were judged on four things: how the autonomy performed, the design, the build schedule and the price. He named no weapons criterion. The Navy's own announcement gave an average cost of $40m a vessel, which puts the order near $1.2bn. It used other transaction agreements and published no per-yard value.
Miller's office is now the Navy's single buyer for robotic boats. A second phase opened on 23 September 2026 for vessels up to 90m.
