Usv News

Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc. (MARTAC), a provider of fully autonomous unmanned surface vessels (USVs), announced the opening of the MARTAC Innovation Center West in San Diego, California. The new facility marks a milestone in the company’s expansion, strengthening its ability to serve defense, security and commercial customers across the West Coast and Pacific regions.The MARTAC Innovation Center West will serve as a hub for research, development, testing and customer engagement, complementing MARTAC’s headquarters in Melbourne, Florida. San Diego’s deep ties to the U.S.

Fleetzero, a U.S.-based developer of marine technology, has announced a collaboration with Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors, a leading U.S. shipbuilder, and Glosten, a Seattle-based global naval architecture and marine engineering firm, to accelerate the development and deployment of integrated autonomous vessel solutions for commercial maritime, government, and defense customers.The partnership brings together Fleetzero's Leviathan™ Battery Energy Storage System, propulsion technologies…

The U.S. Navy has selected HII’s ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel to advance to the at-sea testing phase of the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program.Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Mission Technologies division, said: “HII is proud that ROMULUS USV has advanced to the U.S. Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel evaluation phase, a milestone that reflects HII’s longstanding track record for delivering mission-ready autonomous capabilities that support the U.S.

The U.S. Department of the Navy has selected seven companies to advance to the at-sea testing phase of its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) marketplace initiative.The companies selected for the MUSV Family of Systems development program are Sea Machines, Leidos, Saronic Technologies, Galliano Marine Services, PacMar Technologies, Birdon, and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).The Navy said companies whose vessels successfully complete at-sea testing will receive $15 million…

Seasats today announced that a Lightfish uncrewed surface vessel (USV) has completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, a contested waterway separating Taiwan and mainland China.The vessel was deployed by Seasats from hundreds of miles away, and traversed the full length of the strait over five days while continuously monitoring surface vessel traffic. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, including a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056…

Saronic has launched its first Marauder Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV), designed to deliver dual-use autonomous capability far from shore across the full range of defense and commercial applications.Marauder is built for the kinds of sustained, long-range missions that place the greatest demands on any maritime vessel and present the greatest risks to any crew. Operating fully autonomously or under remote human supervision, Marauder is designed tooperate far from shore…

Québec-based Davie and UK-based Kraken Technology Group have announced a strategic collaboration to establish Canadian production, integration and development of Kraken’s autonomous solutions.Davie will provide Canadian capacity and capability to produce, integrate and develop Kraken’s uncrewed surface vessels and autonomous maritime systems.The announcement comes as Western governments increasingly prioritise autonomous and AI-enabled maritime capabilities as part of wider efforts to strengthen sovereign industrial capacity and accelerate naval modernisation.Philip Burns-O’Brien…

Hyliion Holdings Corp., a developer of modular power plant technology, announced that the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has selected the USX-1 Defiant as a candidate test vessel for Hyliion’s KARNO technology. Initial sea trials are funded under a development program from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to advance the use of KARNO Cores for onboard power generation in U.S. Navy vessels.For the USX-1 Defiant sea trials…

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has demonstrated autonomous docking, charging and redeployment capabilities for its WAM-V autonomous surface vehicle as part of efforts to support longer-duration offshore operations.The company said the system enables the maritime drone to approach a dock, secure itself, recharge and return to operation without human intervention.OPT is preparing the technology for integration with its PowerBuoy platform to create offshore charging points capable…

A newly designed automatic launch and recovery system for small boats and unmanned surface drones (USVs), has been developed by Henriksen AS of Norway and will be presented for the first time at Seawork (Stand F34) in Southampton, June 9-11.The new system enables the automated launch and recovery of craft from the stern ramp of a mother vessel. The Henriksen slipway system now makes it possible for a police or military crew to board a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) and be under way on the water in less than two minutes.

Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc. (MARTAC) announced that its T38 Devil Ray unmanned surface vessel (USV) has completed a record-setting 8-day, completely autonomous mission off the coast of California, demonstrating a level of endurance, reliability and operational control not previously achieved in its class.The USV, owned and operated by Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division’s (NAWCWD) Point Mugu Sea Range through its Future Capabilities Office’s Blue Water Instrumentation (BWI), successfully demonstrated extended autonomous operations in open-ocean conditions.

Hanwha Ocean and Leidos are collaborating to advance next-generation naval ship design, strengthen U.S. shipbuilding capacity, and pursue opportunities across global defense markets.Hanwha Ocean’s shipbuilding, combined with Leidos’ naval design and engineering expertise, is intended to deliver scalable, production-ready solutions aligned with evolving U.S. Navy and allied needs. The companies plan to focus on:• Adapting Hanwha ship designs for full alignment with U.S. Navy standards and requirements• Co-developing next-generation surface combatant concepts for U.S.

Saronic Technologies has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) to explore collaboration on advancing AI-enabled maritime capabilities, including autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), to help address evolving security challenges in the maritime domain.NCSIST serves as Taiwan’s leading defense research and development institution and plays a central role in strengthening Taiwan’s defense industrial base.

Saildrone has announced its newest platform, Spectre. At 52 meters (170 feet) long, weighing 250 tonnes, and capable of up to 30 knots, Spectre is a high-endurance USV designed to deliver multi-mission effects above and below the surface. Spectre’s design is engineered from the keel up for long-range, quiet, persistent operations.Spectre is Saildrone’s largest, fastest, and most capable platform to date.The US Navy is facing unprecedented challenges in maintaining maritime superiority across numerous regional hotspots simultaneously, says the company.

Sofar Ocean, a leading ocean intelligence platform, launched Spotter Scout, a rugged, solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) built by Online Oceans, a UK-based marine robotics company, that enables persistent ocean sensing in remote and deep water locations—no moorings, crew, or depth limits.Remote ocean monitoring is typically expensive and complex. Traditional mooring systems are hard to deploy, maintain, and relocate, and often cost more than the sensors they support. This makes them difficult to justify for shorter-term deployments.Spotter Scout removes these constraints.

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) has introduced AutoHook, a first-of-its-kind fully autonomous vessel recovery interface developed by FMD’s Norway-based business, Vestdavit. AutoHook is designed for fully autonomous launch and recovery systems (LARS) supporting unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and other assets requiring zero human intervention. The compact, lightweight form factor is designed for interoperability across allied fleets in demanding maritime conditions, removing the…

Magnet Defense today announced beginning production of its first deliverable M48 unmanned surface vessel (USV), marking a pivotal milestone as the M48 transitions from an operationally validated prototype program to a production platform.The M48 offers a range of up to 17,000 nautical miles and the ability to self-deploy from San Diego to the Arabian Gulf, unassisted and without refueling. This performance is best-in-class and a significant differentiator amongst competitors in terms of combined range…

US marine autonomy specialist Janus Marine & Defense has launched an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) comparison website. Janus Navigator, a structured, filterable database of almost 200 global USV platforms with a sales capability, has been created to allow clients to make informed choices and identify which platform class best aligns with their mission profile before important procurement decisions are made.The site allows its users to compare and filter USVs across manufacturers, based on mission requirements and technical criteria, rather than relying on individual OEM marketing materials.

RS Aqua announced a new strategic partnership with Seasats, a San Diego-based unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developer, to introduce their range of security platforms to the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland defense market.Seasats is known for its high endurance, modular, and user-friendly USVs designed to deliver maritime domain awareness through autonomous operations. Through this partnership, RS Aqua will represent and support the Seasats product portfolio across the UK and Ireland.Seasats’ inaugural model, the Lightfish, is a modular USV engineered for long duration autonomous missions.

Kongsberg Discovery has launched two new variants of its EM2042 multibeam echosounder, extending high-resolution seabed mapping capabilities to deep-rated subsea vehicles and naval operations.The new EM2042 DR600 and EM2042 BNS build on the existing EM2042 platform and its next-generation acoustic architecture, targeting deepwater unmanned platforms and defense environments, respectively.The EM2042 DR600 is engineered for underwater vehicles including autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), remotely operated towed vehicles (ROTVs) and submarines.

Martens en Van Oord, a contractor in roadworks, civil and hydraulic engineering, is taking a step toward further sustainability and modernization of its fleet by investing in the latest generation of the V4000 autonomous unmanned survey vessel (USV) from Demcon unmanned systems, a specialist in high-tech autonomous vessels for hydrographic and maritime applications. The selected 4‑meter variant provides increased range and longer endurance thanks to the additional hull length…

NYK recently made an equity investment in Oceanic Constellations Inc. (OC) through a third-party allotment of new shares, funding expected to support OC’s efforts to establish a mass-production framework for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), among other initiatives.OC, an ocean-tech startup, aims to establish a mass-production framework for USVs within the next few years. The large-scale production and social implementation of USVs will enable the creation of new marine infrastructure that contributes to addressing societal challenges such as ocean surveillance…

On February 5, NYK made an equity investment in Oceanic Constellations Inc. (OC) through a third-party allotment of new shares. The funds from this investment are expected to support OC’s efforts to establish a mass-production framework for unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), among other initiatives.OC, an ocean-tech startup, aims to establish a mass-production framework for USVs within the next few years. The large-scale production and social implementation of USVs will enable…