Liquid Robotics and Hydronet Sign MOU to Advance Undersea Mesh Networking for Maritime and Underwater Autonomous Vehicles
Herndon, VA. , August 7, 2025
Liquid Robotics, a Boeing company, and Massachusetts-based deep tech start-up Hydronet have formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly advance and commercialize underwater mesh networking capabilities to connect maritime and underwater autonomous vehicles.
“We are very excited about our partnership with Hydronet. Together, our technologies address the critical need of connecting in near real-time the underwater, surface, air, and space domains. It enables our customers to receive and transmit reliable and persistent data flows from various undersea assets in a single network to inform real-time situational awareness during maritime security missions”, said Shane Goodenough, CEO of Liquid Robotics.
Most recently, the two companies successfully demonstrated connectivity of undersea assets through a resilient and secure Command, Control, and Communications (C3) mesh network in a live, military exercise. Multiple Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and Wave Glider Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USVs) were remotely coordinated for task execution utilizing Hydronet’s Nexus Software Defined Modem and Edge Processing Platform.
Hydronet Nexus connects maritime and underwater autonomous vehicles in real-time for reliable, persistent, and secure data flows. Credit: Liquid Robotics.
“Our joint integrations and deployments are industry firsts, supporting high-end, multi-domain warfare. We are entering a new era of underwater networking and communications through the teaming of our technologies. Dynamically coordinating a network of small underwater vehicles and USVs not only creates a powerful swarm to harvest information, it also comes at a relatively low cost,” said Tommaso Melodia, Co-Founder and CEO of Hydronet.
Hydronet Nexus is fully programmable to provide in-water communication, networking, and AI-powered sensing. The system autonomously adapts to dynamic environments and automatically avoids interference and jamming. With its AI-powered processing and analytics skills, decision-making and networking takes place at the edge for fast, data-informed executions of tasks.
The Wave Glider acts as the subsurface-surface intersection and gateway to provide seamless communications from seabed to space. This type of teaming eliminates the need for underwater assets to surface when transmitting data or receiving taskings. Operable in various sea states, the Wave Glider supports long-endurance missions with the option of being deployed many months at a time.
About Liquid Robotics
Liquid Robotics, a Boeing company, designs and manufactures the Wave Glider®, the most experienced and proven Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV). Powered exclusively by wave and solar energy, the Wave Glider stays on mission 24×7 for several months at a time, providing real-time data and communications for a variety of applications. For more than 15 years, Liquid Robotics has supported science, commercial, and defense customers with tailored solutions to ensure successful long-endurance and persistent ocean monitoring missions in varying sea states. Visit www.liquid-robotics.com to learn more. Liquid Robotics and Wave Glider are registered trademarks of Liquid Robotics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company.