Integer Technologies, Bedrock Ocean and Liquid Robotics Complete Successful Maritime Autonomy Demonstration for U.S. Navy

Integrated capability connected autonomous undersea vehicles, persistent surface communications and operational digital twins to provide shore-based mission awareness across constrained networks during Exercise LANTERNFISH 2026

Bedrock, Integer and Liquid Robotics perform a joint maritime autonomy demonstration in Monterey, California during Exercise LANTERNFISH 2026 for the U.S. Navy. All activities conducted under Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Permit MBNMS-2022-023. (Bedrock Photo)

RICHMOND, Calif., July 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bedrock Ocean Exploration (“Bedrock”), Integer Technologies (“Integer”), and Liquid Robotics, a Boeing company, today announced the successful completion of a joint maritime autonomy demonstration during Exercise LANTERNFISH 2026 for the U.S. Navy, showcasing an integrated multi-company architecture connecting autonomous undersea vehicles with shore-based operators through resilient, low-bandwidth communications.

The demonstration, which took place concurrently in Monterey, California and Little Creek, Virginia, brought together Bedrock’s autonomous underwater vehicles and subsea intelligence capabilities, Liquid Robotics’ Wave Glider^® uncrewed surface vehicle and Integer’s DIGIT UxV mission assurance software to present persistent subsea sensing, safer standoff operations, and faster mission decisions in denied or restricted communications environments. Together, the technologies turned a multi-vehicle subsea mission into a connected operation that could be monitored and managed from shore.

“Bedrock is building autonomous ocean intelligence infrastructure that can be deployed rapidly and operated at fleet scale,” said Colin Corridan, Head of Government & Defense at Bedrock. “This demonstration showed that our AUVs can operate as part of a connected mission architecture that delivers the right insights to decision-makers while the mission is still underway. That combination of autonomous collection, persistent awareness and speed to insight is essential to protecting Critical Undersea Infrastructure.”

At LANTERNFISH 26, the companies demonstrated the capability through a representative critical undersea infrastructure protection scenario:

1. Bedrock AUVs conducted persistent intelligence surveys of the seafloor and representative infrastructure, establishing an initial baseline and later detecting a newly introduced change in the undersea environment.
2. Throughout the mission, Integer’s DIGIT UxV maintained operational digital twins reflecting vehicle performance, mission status, energy margin, subsystem health and relevant environmental conditions. Rather than continuously transmitting large volumes of raw data, DIGIT generated compact synchronization updates containing the mission-critical information operators needed to understand the vehicles’ current state and ability to complete the mission.
3. Those updates were transmitted acoustically from the undersea vehicles to a Liquid Robotics Wave Glider operating at the surface. The Wave Glider served as a persistent communications gateway, relaying the updates through satellite communications to shore-based maritime operations environments.
4. DIGIT then synchronized the shore-based operational digital twins and federated mission information into TAK-enabled government systems, including Maven Smart System (MSS).

The approach allowed operators to maintain mid-mission awareness while the AUVs remained submerged and communications were constrained. Reducing the amount of data transmitted through the water also supports shorter acoustic transmissions, lower vehicle energy use and reduced exposure of the vehicles’ positions, while decreasing dependence on a nearby crewed support vessel.

“Persistent maritime autonomy depends on a communications architecture that can remain with the mission,” said Jimmy Board, Head of Business Development at Liquid Robotics. “Our Wave Glider serves as the critical bridge between the subsea vehicles and shore-based operators. This demonstration showed how a proven, long-endurance uncrewed surface platform can extend communications, move mission-relevant information and help enable collaborative autonomous operations without the cost and risk of keeping a crewed vessel on station.”

The demonstration also validated operational digital-twin synchronization, federation into TAK servers and a pathway for bringing the capability into secure government operational environments. These accomplishments provide a foundation for scaling the architecture across larger fleets of autonomous maritime systems.

“This demonstration showed what is possible when autonomous platforms, resilient communications and mission assurance software are designed to operate as one system,” said Josh Knight, COO and Cofounder of Integer. “When an autonomous vehicle is below the surface, operators need a trusted understanding of what the vehicle can accomplish based on its health, energy, environment and mission progress. By moving the right information across constrained networks, DIGIT can give Navy operators greater confidence and decision advantage without requiring a crewed vessel to remain directly overhead.”

LANTERNFISH 26 highlighted the critical role of industry by bringing diverse technologies from multiple partners into a single distributed environment. The exercise gave the U.S. Navy, United Kingdom Ministry of Defense explosive ordnance disposal units, Royal Australian Navy UUV Operators military operators, and defense technology companies a practical venue to rapidly integrate systems, apply recent operational lessons and evaluate emerging commercial concepts in realistic mission conditions. The event demonstrated how industry-developed technologies can help allied forces move faster, operate together more effectively and build a clearer path toward future undersea capability.

Bedrock, Integer and Liquid Robotics will continue evaluating opportunities to mature the integration, expand multi-vehicle operations and support future Department of War and U.S. Navy demonstrations. The companies identified applications across critical undersea infrastructure protection, persistent sensing, maritime domain awareness and other missions requiring trusted autonomous operations in communications-constrained environments.

All activities conducted under Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Permit MBNMS-2022-023

About Bedrock Ocean Exploration

Bedrock is the intelligence infrastructure powering the ocean economy. We unlock ocean insights at unprecedented speed. Bedrock is building persistent ocean intelligence solutions that will enable the ocean economy to solve the world’s most pressing challenges in maritime security, infrastructure, energy, and climate. Our modular architecture delivers entirely new intelligence capabilities for government and commercial partners. With our streamlined "fly-and-deploy" approach, missions can be mobilized from any vessel of opportunity in just 24 to 72 hours. Our automated intelligence pipeline provides comprehensive insights in hours, not weeks. By completely eliminating the logistics of traditional solutions, we enable our customers to make critical decisions within their operational window while reducing costs and keeping crews safe on shore. Bedrock was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Richmond, California. For more information, please visit www.bedrockocean.com.   

About Integer Technologies

Integer is an agile defense technology company that transforms raw data into decision advantage, protecting our country and ensuring a safer world. We partner with the brightest minds in industry and academia to create mission-focused solutions that refine complex information into actionable intelligence, empowering humans and autonomous systems to predict the probabilities in uncertain environments. Our digital engineering portfolio spans robotic and unmanned systems, sensors and perception, power and energy systems, advanced manufacturing and cyber-physical systems. Learn more at www.integer-tech.com.

About Liquid Robotics

Liquid Robotics, a Boeing company, designs and manufactures the Wave Glider^®, the most experienced and proven uncrewed surface vehicle. Powered exclusively by wave and solar energy, the Wave Glider stays on mission around the clock for months at a time, providing real-time data and communications for a variety of applications. For nearly two decades, Liquid Robotics has supported commercial and defense customers with tailored solutions for successful long-endurance and persistent ocean-monitoring missions in varying sea states. Learn more at www.liquid-robotics.com.

Media Contacts

Integer Technologies
Paul Frommelt
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
paul.frommelt@integer-tech.com

Bedrock Ocean Exploration
press@bedrockocean.com

Liquid Robotics
press@liquid-robotics.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/77ecca1b-78fe-431b-b193-c238589b5278

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