FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  — The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance has secured a $125,000 state grant to help Broward County's established maritime companies enter the defense market by building, supplying, and supporting unmanned autonomous vessels for the U.S. Navy and other defense and homeland-security customers.

The Defense Reinvestment Grant Program award, backed by $37,500 in local matching support for a total project value of $162,500, will fund the Broward Maritime Defense Readiness and Diversification Initiative, which will provide the research and data needed to position Broward’s $10 billion “white hull” recreational and marine manufacturing sector for continued growth while expanding into the Navy’s “gray hull” shipbuilding market, including smaller, modular, autonomous and unmanned vessels.

According to the US Naval Defense Market Outlook, the $131 billion U.S. naval defense market is projected to grow to $233 billion by 2032.

The initiative arrives as the Navy seeks to expand and diversify its shipbuilding locations, with plans to ramp up construction at distributed sites from roughly 10 percent to 50 percent. The effort aims to develop a "high-low mix" of advanced combatants, cost-effective ships, and unmanned autonomous systems, including a range of systems operating from the seabed to space.

Broward County is home to a robust maritime industry with an established network of shipbuilding, repair and maintenance operators and skilled workforce with specialized capabilities in marine electronics, composites, fabrication, propulsion, software, cybersecurity and logistics. The completed study will build upon Broward’s strong maritime ecosystem to serve the military defense market and provide the Alliance with a practical data-backed roadmap to expand this sector within the region's broader ocean and resilience economy.

Broward County has a long history of naval and military vessel construction. Broward Marine's wartime and post-Cold War ship building production at the Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach yards produced U.S. Navy sub chasers and minesweepers. Today, the county's proximity to Naval Station Key West maintains its connection to active naval operations and maintenance, while the region's shipyards, working waterfronts, and Port Everglades continue to support patrol craft, minesweepers, and auxiliary vessels.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance is leading the Broward Maritime Defense Readiness and Diversification Initiative alongside two principal partners: the South Florida Defense Alliance, which brings defense-market and company-readiness expertise, and the South Florida Regional Planning Council, which brings data, planning and economic-analysis capabilities. The Marine Industries Association of South Florida is taking part as a maritime industry stakeholder, helping connect the initiative to local companies and validate industry capabilities, needs, and opportunities. The project will also involve Broward County, Port Everglades, area municipalities, workforce organizations, educational institutions, economic-development partners, and other stakeholders to validate findings and identify opportunities.

“This grant is further validation of both the strength and adaptability of Broward’s maritime ecosystem in its ability to contribute meaningfully to our nation’s defense,” said David Coddington, Senior Vice President of Business Development for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance. “We are grateful for this generous grant, and to our partners in helping us push this important initiative forward that will ultimately drive economic growth and create more local high-skill jobs and investment in our county.”

“The South Florida Defense Alliance is proud to partner with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance and the South Florida Regional Planning Council on this important Defense Reinvestment Grant, “said Rick Miller, Executive Director, South Florida Defense Alliance. “Broward County has one of the most sophisticated maritime, marine-service, port, logistics, manufacturing, technology, and workforce ecosystems in the country, but much of that capacity has not yet been fully mapped against defense and dual-use demand. This project will help identify where Broward companies, institutions, and industrial geographies can support the Navy, Coast Guard, homeland security, unmanned maritime systems, sustainment, repair, logistics, and the broader maritime defense industrial base.  Just as importantly, it will validate an assessment model that can help Florida communities better understand, protect, and grow their defense economic potential.  We appreciate FloridaCommerce’s support and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s