Balerion Senior Associate Aidan Daoussis sits down with Nhat Lieu, Founder & CEO of Bulwark Dynamics, to discuss autonomous maritime logistics. Bulwark Dynamics is developing autonomous landing craft for shore-to-shore resupply in contested environments, with a focus on beach landings that do not require ports, piers, or cranes. The discussion centers on Indo-Pacific logistics gaps, the need for lower-cost and more distributed maritime connectors, and the manufacturing challenge of producing these vessels at scale.
Timestamped Overview
00:00 – Introduction to Bulwark Dynamics and the logistics gap the company is targeting01:27 – Origin of the company and early work with military stakeholders02:32 – Carable 15 demonstrator, shallow-draft beach landing, and autonomous cargo delivery03:29 – Why this type of landing craft fell out of focus after World War II04:57 – Why contested island logistics now matter in the Indo-Pacific06:57 – Carable 35, payload requirements, and planned military use cases09:11 – U.S. maritime weakness, shipbuilding capacity, and comparison with China11:38 – Restoring production through allied industrial capacity and distributed shipbuilding13:30 – Nhat Lieu’s background, early companies, and path into defense17:57 – Scaling strategy, allied manufacturing, and long-term commercial applications21:43 – A future Pacific conflict scenario and the role of autonomous logistics25:18 – Why maritime autonomy is technically difficult, especially in denied environments27:04 – Likely adversary countermeasures, blockade tactics, and forward operating locations31:09 – Threats in a Taiwan conflict and uncertainty around future maritime force structure34:06 – What mass production of autonomous vessels would require across factories and suppliers37:32 – Tradeoffs between stealth, cost, and operational capability40:14 – Handling beach landings, rocks, waves, and other edge cases in autonomy42:14 – Selling to military customers, building credibility, and learning defense acquisition46:04 – Design iteration, compressed timelines, and how often these vessels would be used50:26 – How autonomous the Navy may become and the importance of interoperability51:23 – Closing thoughts on unmet defense capability gaps and opportunities for new builders
