UK firm launches lead unit of new USV series

UK-based Zero USV, a company under unmanned systems specialist MSubs, recently launched the first example of a new series of unmanned surface vehicle (USV).

The fully equipped 12-metre vessel is now ready for commissioning and integration trials from Zero USV’s home port of Plymouth. The design, engineering, and construction of the craft lasted 18 months.

The second USV in the series is scheduled to be completed in late March 2025 while the next two vessels are in various stages of construction. An official naming ceremony for the vessels is scheduled for this spring.

The USVs, which will be made available for charter, are designed for long distance over-the-horizon operations. They have also been designed to be mission-agnostic, allowing a wide range of potential applications from surveys and monitoring of critical assets to safety, geophysical surveys, border control, fisheries enforcement, and defence.

Each USV in the series will have hybrid electric propulsion, twin drives for redundancy, and sufficient onboard fuel for a cruising range of more than 2,500 nautical miles.