UK maritime innovator, ZeroUSV has deployed one of its uncrewed surface vessels (USV) to Troia, Portugal, joining NATO’s largest exercise for autonomous naval systems alongside more than 20 allied nations and global defence primes.
The Plymouth-based firm has been competitively selected by the Royal Navy to send one of its 12metre “Oceanus12 class” USV’s to REPMUS_Dynamic Messenger (DYMS) 2025, a three-week exercise programme hosted by the Portuguese Navy off the Tróia Peninsula and Setúbal Bay. Exercise REPMUS (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems) is a Portuguese led proving ground for maritime autonomy integrated with NATO’s Exercise Dynamic Messenger (DYMS), where navies, defence contractors and technology providers test how uncrewed and crewed fleets can operate together in live missions.
ZeroUSV’s pioneering Oceanus12 platform, designed, developed and engineered at the company’s base in Plymouth, is a groundbreaking dual use (defence & civil) USV incorporating a bespoke high voltage electric-hybrid drive train, and full system redundancy not seen on this size and type of vessel before.
The Oceanus12 has been designed for extended duration over the horizon autonomous operations. The level 4, fully autonomous AI-enabled vessels, each with a range of up to 2500 nautical miles, are mission agnostic but typically are used to integrate payloads such as hydrographic survey equipment through to advanced surveillance and communications systems and are designed to operate for extended periods without crew while relaying data back to ship or shore in real time.
In preparation for REPMUS_DYMS, Oceanus12 has received a significant hardware and sensor upgrade package. The most obvious addition is a custom automated winch, which has been loaded with a thin line towable acoustic array from Optics11 in Holland. ZeroUSV has also rapidly designed and built a prototype sonobuoy launch system – “SOIL” (SOnor Intgrated Launch system) as a very first step in being able to demonstrate capability for launching the Royal Navy’s acoustic sonobuoys, another world first for an autonomous USV. The Ocenaus12 will be tasked with deploying the sonobuoys at the start of the daily exercises in conjunction with those from a crewed support vessel.
Teledyne’s T50 extended range deep water multibeam has been fitted to the gondola/keel and will be used to collect military bathymetric data as part of its extensive CONOPS, while the latest Navtech HD radar has been integrated into the MarineAI, Guardian software stack, increasing the situational awareness for the smallest of objects at up to one km of range.
2025 has been a breakout year for ZeroUSV, with the launch of Oceanus12 vessels one and two in the spring, the sale and purchase of vessel two to Leeway Marine in Halifax, Canada in July and with vessels three and four in advance stages of construction and scheduled for commissioning with potential customers lining up to have access to the latest USV tech.
There has also been significant interest from both UK and overseas navies and commercial operators in the offshore energy sector, but REPMUS_DYMS will be the first time its technology is demonstrated directly to NATO decision-makers, and alongside vessels developed by the largest defence contractors in the world.
Matthew Ratsey, founder and managing director at ZeroUSV, said: “Deploying to REPMUS is a fantastic opportunity for us, REPMUS_DYMS provides the backdrop and opportunity for us to be able to ‘spread our wings’ and really show the world how far USV technology has developed over the past few years.
“It’s really where technology stops being talked about as theory and starts being proven at scale. Our vessel is designed to be deployed on long duration over the horizon missions without the need to put sailors’ lives at risk, we now have the chance to show that in live NATO operations.”
In looking forward to zeroUSV’s contribution, the lead planner for the underwater component of REPMUS_DYMS, Mr Ian Danbury OBE, said: “Exercises like REPMUS_DYMS bring navies, researchers and industry together to test uncrewed technology in demanding missions. The involvement of companies such as ZeroUSV ensures NATO can see how emerging systems integrate with conventional fleets and where they can add real value, this is very much the future”
Zero’s vessels will remain in Portugal throughout September for integration, live exercises and the closing showcase. The 12metre vessels on board software system has been developed by autonomy software pioneers, Marine AI.
