Texas leading in Iran conflict, drone boat company rescues pilots, attacks Iran

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(The Center Square) – The Austin-based drone boat company helping Texas lead the U.S. war against Iran is now building what is expected to be the largest shipyard in the country in Texas. 

Saronic Technologies’ three sea drones struck an Iranian naval base on Sunday, marking the first time the United States has used this type of technology in combat. Last month, its technology was also used in another first – the rescue of downed U.S. Apache helicopter pilots near the Strait of Hormuz – all autonomously.

Now, Saronic Technologies is constructing a next-generation shipyard, expected to be the largest shipyard in the country, called Port Alpha at the Port of Brownsville. 

“America's maritime future depends on our ability to build again,” Saronic Co-Founder and CEO Dino Mavrookas said in a statement. “Port Alpha is our commitment to that mission. Built from the ground up to deliver ships at a speed and scale not seen since World War II, this investment is about more than constructing a shipyard. It is about rebuilding the industrial capacity, workforce, and manufacturing advantage required to ensure American maritime leadership for decades to come."

Founded in Austin in 2022, Saronic Technologies combines advanced autonomy software with fast, scalable domestic manufacturing to deliver autonomous maritime systems that extend the reach, capability and efficiency of defense and commercial fleets. Its Port Alpha shipyard and advanced manufacturing facility is expected to build medium- and large-class autonomous and autonomy-capable vessels and create 10,000 new jobs.

“Today marks history with the announcement of the most advanced shipyard in the entire world,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at a press conference in Austin announcing the new venture and highlighting the many firsts in Texas under his leadership. 

“We have a saying here that’s quite applicable: ‘everything is bigger in Texas,’ including now shipbuilding,” he said. When the facility is fully built out, “there will be about 10,000 more employees in Texas receiving at least a $75,000 paycheck per employee. That means Saronic will be providing annually about $750 million in paychecks to Texas employees. That's game changing for the population in the employee network of the state of Texas.”

It’s also “adding a unique chapter to the Texas economic juggernaut story,” he said. “To frame that story, Texas ranks #1 in the United States for the most new jobs. We have the best workforce in the United States, which is one of the reasons why Saronic chose both Texas as well as the Brownsville location. 

“Texas ranks #1 for most economic development projects, #1 for semiconductor manufacturing, #1 for tech exports. Texas is the number one state for capital investment and the number one state for capital markets,” Abbott said, after Texas’ new Stock Exchange came online this month, The Center Square reported. 

The new facility in Brownsville adds “to all that. To be clear, no state in America has done more than Texas over the past 10 years to advance shipbuilding,” he said, highlighting Texas leading in Arctic defense. New Coast Guard cutters are being built in Galveston and Port Arthur, The Center Square reported.

Now “the most advanced shipyard in the entire world” is being built in Texas by a company that has “changed the art and the science of warfare,” he said.

Saronic says it chose Texas because of its workforce availability, infrastructure readiness, land scale, logistics and expansion potential. It’s also working with the state, Cameron County, regional technical colleges and state university systems to develop workforce training and apprenticeship programs.

It says it’s making a capital investment of $3.2 billion and received a Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant of $80 million and a $78,000 Veteran Created Job Bonus. The shipyard is a qualified project under the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation (JETI) program, which gives massive tax breaks and incentives to million- and billion-dollar companies.

The program allows a company to enter into an agreement “for a 10-year school district maintenance and operations (M&O) tax appraised value limitation of 50%, based on qualifying job and capital investment minimums. Projects located in qualified Opportunity Zones are eligible for an additional 25% limitation on taxable value.”

Through JETI, Saronic will pay significantly reduced taxes to the Point Isabel Independent School District, whose students are considered economically disadvantaged. 

Despite this, its Superintendent Teri Capistran said, “Having Saronic in our community is a historic moment for our region and a game changer for our students. Families in the Rio Grande Valley are among the most economically disadvantaged in the state of Texas, but education remains the greatest equalizer that breaks cycles of poverty in families and generations. By partnering with Saronic, our students will now have the unprecedented opportunity to earn advanced degrees, gain cutting edge skills, and secure high-paying careers right here at home.”