Developed with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Mercury Marine, the remote-pilot autonomy system transforms Ghostworks’ M-Hull and powercat vessels into configurable multi-role platforms for defence and maritime operations
Ghostworks has introduced a new remote-pilot autonomy system designed to transform a single uncrewed vessel into a multi-mission platform, combining advanced autonomy, human-in-the-loop control and drive-by-wire propulsion technology.
The company unveiled its MRLN (Multirole Remote Logistics Node) at the 2026 Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, hosted by U.S. Senator Dave McCormick at the U.S. Army War College.
MRLN was developed with three partners, each contributing a core piece of the system:
- Ghostworks designed, engineered, and built a 40′ carbon fiber Minerva-class M-Hull, with speed, range, and payload currently unrivaled in the industry.
- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) brought decades of autonomy and sensor experience from remotely piloted aircraft and adapted it to the maritime domain.
- Mercury Marine contributed its drive-by-wire propulsion technology and Command Gateway product, giving MRLN the endurance to transit contested and congested environments and to maintain station for extended periods in demanding conditions.
Command of the iron triangle: the long-standing tradeoff between speed, range, and payload has quietly dictated naval procurement for a generation. Rather than optimising for one at the expense of the others, Ghostworks designs its vessels to maximize performance across all three metrics. Ghostworks’ Minerva-class vessel can carry 17,500 lbs at a cruise speed of 30 knots and handles sea state 4. Minerva is the first to employ MRLN, allowing operators to control the craft remotely, mission to mission, whether delivering fuel to an isolated craft, carrying a high-value load, or racing to conduct a rescue. Deployed across Ghostworks’ proprietary hull forms, MRLN provides granular control over that performance tradeoff for the first time.
MRLN pairs its modular, subsystem-agnostic architecture with a proven, serious payload capacity. The system is human-in-the-loop: a human operator retains situational awareness even as the vessel runs autonomously and can take control of the craft at any time. Operators can reconfigure mission profiles in the field, giving commanders a platform that adapts to the fight instead of forcing the fight to adapt to the platform. That freedom is the point. MRLN was built to function anywhere, anytime with its own connectivity.
“For decades, naval planners have had to accept that speed, range, and payload pull against each other. Optimize for one and you sacrifice the others,” said Brooke Kerschbaumer, CEO, Ghostworks. “Our vessels were architected to break that constraint. MRLN gives operators human-in-the-loop command and control over that tradeoff space, mission to mission, without changing platforms.”
“Leveraging our development of world-leading autonomy for air-vehicles into the maritime domain is a natural progression,” said Jeff Hettick, vice president of GA-ASI’s Agile Mission Systems. “This partnership really highlights how bringing together the best in the defense industry can yield exciting new capabilities for our warfighters in a timescale that is relevant.”
“Our role was to prove that MRLN could meet the control and reliability demands of sustained surface operations,” said Carl Greiner, Director of Government & Advanced Maritime Systems, Mercury Marine. “This integration expands what’s achievable in a remote-piloted maritime system.”
