Nov 26, 2025
Nov 19, 2025
Mystic Powerboats Enters Defense Sector with MARTAC Partnership
- Scott Way
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
High-performance boat manufacturer Mystic Powerboats has entered the defense and autonomous vessel industry with a new production agreement with Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc. (MARTAC).
The partnership will see the Deland, Florida-based boatbuilder support production of MARTAC's autonomous unmanned surface vessel (USV) platforms, including their Devil Ray and MANTAS series, as demand for autonomous maritime vessels continues grows rapidly among the U.S. military and its allies.
“Accelerating autonomous maritime capability is imperative as nations place greater emphasis on maintaining maritime awareness, ensuring force protection across distributed maritime operations and protecting critical shipping lanes” said John Cosker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mystic Powerboats in a press release.
"We are proud to leverage our heritage of applying advanced technology to deliver high-performance, rigorously tested watercraft to now help advance the autonomous capabilities our nation and our allies need.”
For MARTAC, the agreement will allow them to increase domestic production capacity and meet expanding requirements for autonomous maritime capability. The company said its USV platforms have been operationally deployed for more than a decade through various government programs and military exercises.
MARTAC is already well known within the defense industry as a leader in Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) designs. Their boats are not only high-performance, but also modular for military, security, commercial and scientific appplications. Headquartered less than 100 miles from Mystic in nearby Melbourne, Florida, MARTAC has seen significant traction with their MANTAS X-Class and Devil Ray Expeditionary Class platforms.
The Devil Ray T18 carries an LOA of 19'8" with a max payload of 750 lbs and a top speed over 60 knots. Power comes via twin inboard gas engines. The smaller Mantas T12 carries an LOA of 12' with a max payload of 140 lbs and a burst speed over 30 knots from an electric powertrain.
Founded in 1996, Mystic Powerboats is best known for its offshore racing heritage and high-performance composite boat construction. The company operates a nearly 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in DeLand, Florida, specializing in carbon-fiber construction, epoxy resin infusion, and foam-core hull manufacturing.
“The United States is home to exceptional marine manufacturing companies with deep expertise in advanced composites and maritime construction,” said Seamus Flatley, Chief Growth Officer at MARTAC.
“Mystic Powerboats is a great example of this ‘made in America’ ingenuity. They are a world-class builder with the advanced composite manufacturing capabilities and skilled workforce needed to produce the high-performance hull structures our platforms require. Partnering with Mystic is a key step in our strategy to rapidly scale production while ensuring that our systems remain operationally proven and ready to deploy.”
MARTAC said Mystic's expertise in advanced composite manufacturing is well suited to match the construction methods required in its autonomous vessels, making them an ideal production partner as both companies scale operations to meet the emerging demand.
Both companies also said the agreement is the first in a series of expected domestic co-production partnerships. With Mystic now in the fold, MARTAC will be better equipped to handle surges in demand while diversifying its supply chain and shortening delivery timelines as military partners and their allies require shorter delivery timelines.
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