Orca AI Defense has opened its first U.S. office in Virginia Beach, Va., establishing a base for the maritime technology company’s expansion into U.S. defense, port security, and autonomous vessel applications.
Alon Shantzer, vice president of business growth for Orca AI Defense, is leading the company’s U.S. expansion from the Virginia Beach International Incubator. He currently serves as Orca AI Defense’s first U.S.-based employee.
The defense unit operates as a subsidiary of London-based Orca AI, whose navigation and situational-awareness technology is already used in the commercial maritime sector. Orca AI said its platform is deployed aboard more than 1,500 vessels and has accumulated more than 120 million nautical miles of operating data.
For national security and maritime surveillance applications, Orca AI Defense builds on the same commercial technology with cameras, computer vision, object tracing, and automated alerts. The system is designed to identify vessels and other activity around ports, coastlines, and strategic facilities.
Potential customers include the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, port operators, defense contractors, and manufacturers of unmanned and autonomous maritime systems. Orca AI Defense said the technology can also be used to detect vessels operating without AIS and other low-profile maritime targets.
“This expansion represents a pivotal moment for Orca AI Government & Defense as we bring our cutting-edge maritime intelligence directly to the U.S. market,” Shantzer said.
The Virginia Beach operation grew out of a June meeting between the company and Virginia Beach Economic Development at the Eurosatory defense exhibition in Paris. Orca AI representatives later visited Virginia Beach and the broader Hampton Roads region to meet with military, defense-industry, and regional organizations.
Less than two months after the initial meeting, Orca AI Defense established the Virginia Beach location, its parent company’s fifth office globally.
The company said it is now exploring pilot programs and partnerships in the Hampton Roads maritime and defense sector. It is also recruiting a business development director and expects to add employees in Virginia Beach as its U.S. operation develops.
“Orca AI Defense’s advanced capabilities in autonomous maritime systems will support our extensive network of defense installations, security partners, and unmanned-systems innovators,” said Emily Archer, director of Virginia Beach Economic Development.
The Virginia Beach International Incubator is intended to provide overseas companies with a base for entering the U.S. market, including access to the region’s military installations, maritime companies, and technology sector.
