Rhode Island
The Pentagon put out a call for autonomous boats. Two Navy veterans started a Rhode Island company to make them. – The Boston Globe
The next day, Lwin and Joe Turner, also a Navy veteran, quit their jobs and started Havoc – a Rhode Island-based company that does just that.
Officially formed in early 2024, Havoc, now boasts about 130 employees from New England to Hawaii, and produces not only autonomous vessels, but also the software that allows them to do “sophisticated things together,” said Lwin, Havoc’s CEO.
They may, for example, be stationed and programmed to protect a manned-military boat against enemies while traversing the ocean. Stateside, they could enhance security at cargo ports, among other uses, Lwin said.
“Even back in ’24 and now in ’26, there are a lot of people building these robots in different domains. Whether it’s maritime, air, or ground, if you think about it, they’re all robots. They just do different things,” Lwin said.
“We realized that the challenge wasn’t building those specific robots, but the challenge was making those robots work together and work with [humans] to do something useful.”
Lwin recently spoke to the Globe about Havoc’s work, its footprint in Rhode Island, and what’s next for the fast-growing company.
Q. So the idea is that you can have these boats that are equipped with your tech: You make the entire boat and then you make the software that allows the boats to communicate with each other without human input?
Lwin: Yep. We started with smaller boats, but now we’re all the way up to a 100-foot ship in Hawaii that’s running our software, and now we’ve started putting it on other things, like ground vehicles and quadcopters, and it’s the same exact software stack that’s controlling all of these.
What would be a situation the military would use this for?
There are multiple use cases. One simple use case is transferring supplies. In the Pacific, the US military is moving into these island chains … and you have to transfer supplies between them, right?
If you think about how we do that now, you would use helicopters or manned ships, which put people in danger. In a conflict with China, they’re going to probably shoot down any giant helicopters or any ships, and so you don’t want to put people at risk. So this is a way of using these vessels and these aerial platforms and even land vehicles to move supplies between and in these islands.
The other thing is what we call ISR [or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance]. You can put thousands of these vessels in the ocean. They create a distributed sensor network. They’re all talking to each other. They can have different sensors on each boat, and then they’re all communicating and fusing that information, and giving you an ability to understand what’s going on in these big ocean areas.
Is the military and defense industry your primary business right now?
There’s some commercial use cases. We could complement harbor police. The other thing is environmental monitoring.
Right now, after a storm, especially for those [roll-on, roll-off] ships in Narragansett Bay, there are essentially fishing vessels that go out and take depth meters to make sure there’s enough draft, that the ro-ro ships aren’t going to run aground. So it’s very intensive, especially in the freezing cold. We could put those sensors on our vessels, and they could do with a human just sitting in a warm room, controlling hundreds of these vessels safely.
You have facilities all over the United States. What do you do at your locations in Boston and East Providence?
It’s a hardware site. We would not be where we are if we weren’t based in the Northeast. We needed access to the boat builders – and so Rhode Island makes the most sense – but also water space to test.
You also have the tech sector here, right? If you think about in Massachusetts, with MIT, Harvard, BU, BC, all of those colleges all have very good engineering programs. And in Rhode Island, you’ve got Brown, URI, right? In Connecticut, you have Yale, UConn. They’re producing very good engineers, and to be able to tap into that pool is what allowed us to move as quickly as possible.
Where do you want Havoc to be in the next two years?
We want to successfully have built thousands of these vessels and put them into the ocean. There’s a very compelling and relevant reason right now: If we do that, we might prevent a war in the Pacific. If the United States is able to put thousands of autonomous vessels and provide our allies with those vessels, it might just change the calculus – for China to not invade Taiwan and have this global conflict. So that is what we are focused on.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
The Boston Globe’s weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state’s economy. Send tips and suggestions to rinews@globe.com.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
A new era for State Troopers in southern RI
Closing the State Police barracks facilities in Wyoming and Wickford marks the end of an era in community policing
Republican candidate for lieutenant governor John Loughlin wants the office to become the Rhode Island inspector general his party has been seeking in vain for years.
Loughlin, a former state representative, said on May 11 that, if elected, he would staff the underutilized office with people who would help him expose “fraud, waste, abuse, and government corruption.”
“Rhode Islanders are sick and tired of watching their tax dollars disappear into a black hole of inefficiency, cronyism, and outright corruption while the General Assembly talks a big game but delivers nothing − year after year after year,” Loughlin said in a news release. “For more than two decades, the legislature has failed to create a true Inspector General with real investigative power. Enough is enough. If they won’t do it, the Lieutenant Governor’s Office will − starting on day one.”
Why turn the lieutenant governor into an inspector general?
The Rhode Island Constitution gives the lieutenant governor little to no authority beyond being available in case the governor is unable to finish their term. That’s prompted some to call it a “do nothing” office and others to propose abolishing it.
“Frankly, the current workload of the office leaves ample time and resources to do far more for taxpayers than ceremonial appearances and ribbon-cuttings,” Loughlin said in his news release. “Rhode Islanders deserve a Lieutenant Governor’s Office that works every day to protect their money and hold government accountable.”
The lieutenant governor’s office has a budget of $1.4 million, which Loughlin said is enough to staff and run an effective investigative team made up of “certified auditors, investigators, and compliance professionals” to review state agency spending and contracts.
He acknowledged that the lieutenant governor does not have subpoena power, but believes that investigations can be completed utilizing public records requests and gathering publicly-available data.
Loughlin, who ended his talk radio show earlier this year when he announced his campaign for governor, said he would communicate his findings through “RI Report” publications, news briefings and podcasts.
He said he would also make the office’s resources available to city and town leaders.
Republicans have been fighting for an inspector general
Rhode Island Republicans have for years promised to lower state spending by rooting out government waste, fraud and abuse. The last GOP Rhode Island governor, Donald Carcieri, launched a “Fiscal Fitness” program that aimed to save money and find efficiencies.
Democrats criticized Carcieri’s tenure for featuring exorbitant privatization and outsourcing.
Since Carcieri, the idea of creating an independent inspector general similar to those in other states has become a holy grail for Rhode Island Republicans, but the Democratic General Assembly has had little interest in it.
“If our office saves just 1% from Rhode Island’s bloated state budget, the savings would return more than ten times the entire cost of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to taxpayers – and that’s only the beginning,” Loughlin said in the news release.
The Rhode Island Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 10, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Numbers numbers from May 10 drawing
Midday: 9-9-9-0
Evening: 5-5-0-9
Check Numbers payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Wild Money numbers from May 10 drawing
01-13-14-16-32, Extra: 02
Check Wild Money payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 10 drawing
01-03-20-35-46, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes less than $600 can be claimed at any Rhode Island Lottery Retailer. Prizes of $600 and above must be claimed at Lottery Headquarters, 1425 Pontiac Ave., Cranston, Rhode Island 02920.
- Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot winners can decide on cash or annuity payment within 60 days after becoming entitled to the prize. The annuitized prize shall be paid in 30 graduated annual installments.
- Winners of the Millionaire for Life top prize of $1,000,000 a year for life and second prize of $100,000 a year for life can decide to collect the prize for a minimum of 20 years or take a lump sum cash payment.
When are the Rhode Island Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Midday): 1:30 p.m. ET daily.
- Numbers (Evening): 7:29 p.m. ET daily.
- Wild Money: 7:29 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Rhode Island editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Watch: Khano Smith speaks with media after RIFC drew Tampa Bay
Watch as Khano Smith speaks with media after RIFC drew Tampa Bay
PAWTUCKET — JJ Williams finally had his space and rose to the opportunity.
The Rhode Island FC striker, deep in the attacking zone, came back to a cross and headed Nick Scardina’s service to the near post to salvage the night for Rhode Island. Williams’ goal landed in the 86th minute to draw Tampa Bay Rowdies, 1-1, in rain-soaked Pawtucket.
It’s the third draw in USL Championship play for Rhode Island at Centreville Bank Stadium this season. RIFC was turning in a familiar performance before snagging the tie against the league-leading Rowdies as Williams supplied his third regular-season goal of the year. The draw is the first time RIFC has earned a result after the opposition opened the scoring since its 1-1 tie vs. Birmingham Legion FC on July 5, 2025.
Rhode Island now travels to USL League One side Portland Hearts of Pine for its second game of the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage on Saturday, May 16 at 4 p.m. The club returns to Pawtucket on May 23 against Brooklyn FC.
“All night they made it tough because they were doubling,” Williams said of Tampa Bay. “And wherever I went to, they were going contact first, especially in this league with no [Video Assistant Referee] … but on that one, the ball was so good that they spun around, and then I was able to make good contact.”
Rhode Island had a string of missed chances in the first 15 minutes that fed into a goal for Tampa Bay and then a triple substitution in the second half that provided little spark. Max Schneider’s cross from right of the box found Pedro Dolabella at the far post for a clinical header in the 29th minute in front of an announced attendance of 6,790.
The game’s first score came just 10 minutes after attempts from Hugo Bacharach and Jojea Kwizera were saved and Williams sailed an open shot past the bar.
“We tried to correct some of those things that we struggled with last week,” Williams said. “Getting to the ball, making tackles, making a stick, I think that we weren’t as clean in possession as we would have been, especially as we won the ball and played forward. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half where we could have seen more chances, but we did well to weather the storm early and create some. But for me, I [have] to bury that first one.”
Rhode Island creates plenty of chances — it is tied for fourth with 112 attempts — but has just 12 goals this season. If it had finished one of the early chances against Tampa Bay, it would’ve shifted the tenor of the match and forced the visitors to play outside of its form. But the final scoring sequence is still missing with the summer months coming soon.
“Happy with the spirit, happy with the effort, happy with the fight,” RIFC coach Khano Smith said. “You’ve seen that a lot with our team. They just fought to the end, never gave up, kept pushing. Ultimately, it’s two more points dropped at home, and we need to find a way to stop doing that. We need to be ruthless – just ruthless in front of the goal.”
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