2025 Janus Review: USV Industry Trends
maritime operations, from defense and security to offshore research and logistics.Reluctance around intellectual property sharing, concerns about competitive advantages, and the absence of agreed industry standards are preventing the widespread collaboration that is needed to overcome those issues.Key technologies, including AI development, needed to move the sector forward are still under active research and finding the right talent for the USV industry also remains one of the biggest roadblocks to innovation and growth.It describes the sector as “an exciting and fast-evolving field." However
Manta Ray UUV Prototype Completes In-water Testing
The Manta Ray prototype uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) built by Northrop Grumman completed full-scale, in-water testing off the coast of Southern California in February and March 2024. Manta Ray was built through a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program aimed at advancing key technologies to benefit future UUV designs, including techniques to manage energy, increased payload capacity, low-power propulsion and more.The recent in-water testing demonstrated at-sea hydrodynamic performance, including submerged operations using all the vehicle’s modes of propulsion and steering:
MTR100: EvoLogics GmbH
EvoLogics GmbH is a German-based high-tech enterprise. The company was founded in 2000 by a group of international scientists and R&D experts aimed to develop innovative key technologies for the maritime and offshore industries through interdisciplinary cooperation between engineering and life sciences.EvoLogics GmbH designs and manufactures underwater information systems and novel robotic solutions based on bionic concepts, combining cutting-edge engineering with the best ideas found in nature. The advanced product features have become enabling technologies for monitoring, exploration and productio
KATFISH Towed Sonar find niche in Defense, Offshore Energy
of offshore wind energy over the next decade and beyond will drive significant opportunities as the seabed and sub-seabed has to be mapped and imaged in high resolution before, during and after the construction of these subsea infrastructure projects. Platforms and sensors from Kraken will provide key technologies to help decision makers lower risk and build and maintain offshore wind farms economically.Kraken currently operates a KATFISH system out of Halifax, Canada, deployed on the R/V Ocean Seeker high-speed catamaran for demonstrations, engineering tests and evaluations, and near shore surveys. We
NOC: Advancing Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
, some of them have extended energy bays, some of them have ADCPs and so on. We've got quite a lot of stuff.Photo courtesy NOCAnd then, of course, you have the world-famous AUV Boaty McBoatface?Yes, Boaty McBoatface is the Autosub long range vehicle.So what is NOC working on now? What are the key technologies, enablers, and drivers that will help make autonomous vessels even more integral to your operations?Weirdly, everything’s a software problem now. So we are building the control systems, which sit in the vehicle, we're using something called a robot operating system as our primary platform
MTR100: EvoLogics in Focus
Reporter presented its 16th Annual "MTR100", a focus on 100 leading people, companies and technologies in the subsea space. Featured here is EvoLogics GmbH.EvoLogics GmbH is a German-based high-tech enterprise, founded in 2000 by a group of scientists and R&D experts aimed to develop key technologies for the maritime and offshore industries through interdisciplinary cooperation between engineering and life sciences. EvoLogics GmbH designs and manufactures underwater information systems and novel robotic solutions based on bionic concepts, combining cutting edge engineering with the best
Subsea Minehunter: RE2 nabs $9.5m Development Deal from ONR
;s Defender remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The RE2 Sapien Sea Class arms, which were originally designed and developed for the ONR, feature a compact, strong, electromechanical design with human-like dexterity (7-function per arm) that is neutrally buoyant. The fusion of these key technologies provides superior strength and precision while manipulating neutralization devices
General Atomics Wins Contract for LDUUV Motor and ESS
of GA-EMS. “Over the course of the last two years, the motor has undergone lab testing, and power system has completed underwater testing. Both systems have performed successfully, demonstrating capabilities to both power and propel underwater vehicles. Together, the systems are proving to be key technologies to provide the combined power, energy density, and improved vehicle performance necessary to help meet the objectives.”Development and testing of both motor and power systems continues in order to optimize performance. An LDUUV with the integrated motor and power propulsion system eventually
ADCPs & DVLs: Recent Tech Developments
DVL on the Fusion vehicle (Photo Courtesy Nortek)As the ADCP/DVL ecosystem has matured there have been many innovations. Recently, leading manufacturers have brought creative developments to the field. Teledyne RDI, the successor to the first company to commercialize the ADCP, continues to deliver key technologies, especially DVLs, for undersea vehicles. One of the most common unmanned undersea vehicles in service is Hydroid’s REMUS. This vehicle typically employs Teledyne’s compact DVL in the original configuration of four transducers mounted in a ring. The DVLs in these vehicles augment
February 2025
