Dino Mavrookas, co-founder and CEO of autonomous surface vessel maker Saronic, answers an audience question from VC Drew Oetting about how many new defense primes will emerge.
Prediction Not yet assessed · timeframe Sep 2031
Mavrookas: Saronic will test a hypersonic missile before a manned Navy vessel
“We're actually going to be able to launch a hypersonic missile off of the back of Marauder, which is an autonomous ship, Before the Navy completes their first test of a hypersonic missile off of a manned vessel.”
Assertion Supported
Mavrookas: Saronic Corsairs rescued downed Apache pilots and attacked Iranian port
“Corsairs, which you just saw, were actively being used in the Straits of Hormuz. Two examples that were made public were one, the Apache pilot rescue of two down pilots, And then a offensive attack on an Iranian port, which actually took out an Iranian submari…”
Assertion Supported
Mavrookas: China outbuilds the US in shipbuilding 230 to 1
“China outbuilds the US 230 to one.”
Insight
Mavrookas: Industrial volume, not exquisite design, determines naval power
“What has typically just determined naval power is who can build the
The most ships. It's not who can build the most exquisite, the most expensive, whose ships have the most on them in terms of payloads and weapons and all the other things. It's like, who can j…”
Assertion Partly supported
Mavrookas: China launches ~30 warships annually versus 5 to 10 US ships
“We being the U.S. Launch about five to 10 military, meaning destroyer, cruiser, aircraft carrier, like straight naval vessel warship. China's probably doing about 30, so six to one, seven to one, somewhere in there.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Sep 2036
Mavrookas: Port Alpha will create 10,000 jobs and $160B economic impact
“So what we're going to do at Port Alpha, you mentioned 10 years, over the next 10 years, we're going to create 10,000 jobs. We're going to invest billions of dollars. I mean, we're going to have a hundred and sixty billion dollar economic impact in Brownsville…”