Newly completed unmanned craft include a USV for a UK operator and a French Navy minehunting vessel. Development meanwhile continues on an autonomous surface interceptor for the US Navy and a subsea drone for defence and commercial use. Lastly, a Nigerian marine services provider has placed orders for new ROVs.
UK-based autonomous vessel company Zero USV has completed its third 12-metre unmanned surface vehicle (USV), which is available for outright purchase or charter.
The USV is controlled using software from MarineAI's autonomy suite, delivering COLREG-compliant navigation, adaptive decision-making, and remote mission control, as well as integration of third party payloads.
The French Navy recently took delivery of a new unmanned surface vehicle (USV) designed for mine countermeasures (MCM) missions.
Rigel was developed by a collaboration between the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation, the French Ministry of Armed Forces, the UK Ministry of Defence, and defence technology company the Thales Group.
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri on Thursday unveiled its first underwater drone system, as the group changes its product mix to give more space to the increasingly profitable submarine business.
The underwater drone, for both military and civil needs, is designed for the protection and maintenance of critical underwater infrastructure — such as pipelines, electrical cables and telecommunications ones. It can also be used for monitoring and safeguarding the marine environment.
San Diego-based unmanned systems manufacturer Seasats recently unveiled a new type of autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) during a multi-day exercise conducted by the US Navy off the coast of California.
Seasats said the exercise successfully demonstrated many of the Quickfish ASV's features, including top speeds of over 35 knots, payload modularity, and intuitive autonomy interfaces.
UK-based Forum Energy Technologies’ (FET) subsea product line has secured a contract to provide two of its work-class remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to Nigerian oil and gas firm Marine Platforms (MPL).
FET said it has a long-standing relationship with MPL, with the latter using its systems across operations.