French maritime robotics specialist Exail will supply a nine-metre unmanned surface vehicle (USV) for US Navy counter-drone research, while another craft also built by the company is slated for evaluation by the US Coast Guard.
An Exail representative said that the USV slated for the navy will be transferred to the Office of Naval Research through a third party, which will then integrate the unspecified counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) payload.
Exail first announced the contract in April. At the time, it said the customer would adapt C-UAS technology originally developed for land platforms for maritime use.
Exail also plans to sail another USV across the Atlantic to the United States to demonstrate its endurance and expeditionary capability ahead of the US Coast Guard’s evaluation.
Exail’s unmanned vessels have also operated with Task Force 59 in the Middle East, the French Navy, and NATO Task Force X.
The US Coast Guard established its Office of Robotics and Autonomous Forces in September. The service said that, since the previous year, it has put more than US$450 million into autonomous capabilities, following an earlier US$350 million programme.
The nine-metre USV displaces 2.1 tonnes and can be transported in a 40-foot high-cube container. It has a range of 2,000 nautical miles, an endurance of up to 20 days, and a speed below 13 knots.
An earlier example of the USV was delivered in 2022 to the University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping.
