British company ZeroUSV has officially unveiled the Oceanus17, its largest unmanned surface vessel to date.
After completing construction and passing factory acceptance tests, the vessel will move on to the final equipment installation phase before beginning operations. The project represents an important step forward in the development of autonomous vessels designed for long-duration missions.
Measuring 17 meters in length, the Oceanus17 is significantly larger than the company’s previous model. The vessel can sail for more than 50 days without refueling or maintenance, travel more than 5,000 nautical miles, and carry up to four tons of payload. These features greatly expand its capabilities for military, scientific, and commercial operations conducted on the open sea.
The new vessel was also designed to offer a high degree of operational flexibility. Its cargo compartment follows the international ISO container standard, allowing modules equipped with sensors, communications equipment, or research instruments to be quickly replaced depending on the mission. In addition, it has a dedicated power supply to keep these systems running during extended operations.
Navigation is handled by a Level 4 autonomous system based on GuardianAI software, capable of carrying out nearly the entire mission without constant intervention from human operators. Combined with the redundant architecture of its critical systems, which improves safety in the event of failures, the Oceanus17 reinforces ZeroUSV’s strategy of developing highly autonomous platforms for persistent beyond-the-horizon missions, serving customers in the defense, commercial, and scientific sectors.
Source: Defence Blog | Photos: LinkedIn – ZeroUSV | This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team
