A new large UUV has been delivered to the US Navy while a similar craft is under development in Turkey. Partnerships in the US and the UK seek to boost the manufacture of USVs. Lastly, the Indian Navy has placed orders for autonomous and remotely operated mine countermeasures systems.
India's Larsen and Toubro has entered into a collaboration with France-based Exail to provide an unmanned mine counter-measure suite for the Indian Navy. This system is intended for a naval programme involving 12 mine counter measure vessels.
The technology incorporates autonomous and remotely operated systems designed to detect and neutralise naval mines from a distance.
Serving as prime contractor, Larsen and Toubro will work alongside Exail as the technology partner for the initiative.
UK-based unmanned systems manufacturer Zero USV has made an investment in local shipyard Manor Marine to accelerate the production of Zero USV's autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs).
Under the new partnership, Zero USV has become a shareholder in Manor Marine, thus providing Zero USV with guaranteed production capacity to significantly scale, and deliver at pace, its USVs from Manor Marine’s base in Portland, Dorset.
Additional manufacturing space may be added from the autumn of 2027 to support the growing newbuild pipeline.
Turkish defence technology company Datum has unveiled a new type of large unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) boasting modular construction to accommodate a range of weapons and sensors.
Datum said the work on the Sinarit UUV utilised insights that were gained during the company's development of an earlier series of midget submarine that can be operated in shallow as well as deep waters.
The UUV will be built to permit transport via a standard container. Air transport will be possible via an A400M medium-lift military cargo aircraft.
Blue Water Autonomy has introduced a multi-partner manufacturing model designed to scale the production of autonomous ships.
The Boston-based company said the system combines existing industrial capacity with software-enabled manufacturing to support the US Navy medium unmanned surface vessels programme, an initiative with funding exceeding $6 billion.
This project involves the construction of the Liberty Class, a 190-foot (57.9-metre) vessel currently being built at Conrad Shipyard.
Melbourne, Australia-based unmanned systems manufacturer C2 Robotics has commissioned and christened a new large unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) slated for the US military.
C2 said the Speartooth large UUV has been designed to deliver scalable, cost-effective undersea capability across intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike missions.
The craft's smaller size and lower unit cost will enable it to operate in contested environments and generate force mass not possible with traditional platforms, according to the manufacturer.
