Bulwark Dynamics has raised $6.8 million in seed funding to advance autonomous landing craft designed for contested logistics. The round includes SBI US Gateway Fund LP, Archetype Ventures, Nēnē Ventures, and Onomichi Dockyard. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with Onomichi Dockyard to support serial production of its Caravel series.
An Autonomous Platform for Contested Resupply
The Caravel series is an unmanned surface vessel designed to resupply expeditionary forces across unimproved shorelines without ports, piers, or cranes. It can transit, land on a beach, discharge cargo, and retract fully autonomously, including in GPS denied environments. Unlike retrofits or bolt-on autonomy kits, the platform was built specifically for this mission and for low cost production at scale.
Demonstration and Planned Variants
In early 2026, Bulwark Dynamics demonstrated the complete mission sequence with a Caravel 15 prototype. The demonstration included unmanned transit, beaching, cargo offload, and retraction from the beach with no human intervention. The company is also developing 35-foot and 55-foot variants sized to carry one and two twenty-foot equivalent units of containerized cargo, sharing major components for producibility.
Mission Focus and Broader Applications
The company's primary focus is sustainment for U.S. and allied forces operating across Indo-Pacific littorals. The same capability also carries to civil use, including disaster relief, wherever cargo must reach a shoreline without a port. This dual use potential extends the platform's value beyond defense logistics and supports humanitarian response in austere coastal environments.
Shipbuilding Partnership in Japan
Founded in 1943, Onomichi Dockyard is one of Japan's leading shipbuilders, with experience spanning bulk carriers, tankers, RO/RO vessels, and ferries. The group operates two slipways across western Japan and includes Saiki Heavy Industries, delivering approximately 350,000 gross tons annually. Under the partnership, the companies will build the Caravel series in Japan and are discussing a dedicated site for serial production of unmanned vessels.
Strategic Alignment with Allied Industry
The collaboration is consistent with the priority the White House has placed on working with allied shipbuilders to rebuild U.S. maritime industrial capacity. This direction was outlined in America's Maritime Action Plan in February 2026 and carried forward in subsequent executive action. Building unmanned systems inside the theater uses allied industrial base and supply chains while supporting American reindustrialization.
Executive Perspective
Nhat Lieu, co-founder and CEO of Bulwark Dynamics, said sustainment has to survive to matter in a contested environment. He noted that Caravel takes people off the most exposed leg of the resupply run and spreads delivery across many low-cost hulls. Losing one vessel becomes a bad day rather than the end of the resupply effort.
Next Steps
With the new funding, Bulwark Dynamics will accelerate the cycle of developing and validating production vessels while feeding operational lessons back into design. The company will work with Onomichi Dockyard to build production capacity to field Caravel in meaningful numbers. It is also expanding hiring across engineering, test operations, and business development at its U.S. and Japan locations.
Bulwark Dynamics' new funding and Japanese shipbuilding partnership mark a significant step toward more resilient maritime sustainment. The autonomous Caravel series addresses a critical vulnerability by reducing dependence on large crewed vessels and fixed ports in contested areas. This effort combines allied manufacturing strength with autonomous technology to strengthen Indo-Pacific logistics and disaster relief capabilities.