New UK autonomous vessel to join NATO exercise

ZeroUSV named its first Oceanus17-class unmanned surface vessel The Lady of the Lake at a ceremony in Plymouth on August 18, with the vessel set to deploy to Portugal next week for NATO’s Exercise REPMUS.

Member of Parliament Rebecca Smith performed the naming during Plymouth’s British National Firework Championships. The name draws on Arthurian tradition, following a naming pattern the company’s parent, MSubs, set with the Royal Navy’s XV Excalibur uncrewed submarine, delivered under the Cetus program in 2025.

The Oceanus17 is built by Manor Marine at its Portland shipyard and represents a larger evolution of ZeroUSV’s Oceanus12 platform, which the company launched roughly a year earlier. ZeroUSV said the new class carries a payload capacity of 4,000 kilograms (8,818 pounds), a mission endurance exceeding 50 days, and a top speed approaching 15 knots. The vessel includes a 20-foot ISO-compatible payload bay with 30 kilowatts of dedicated payload power.

“Just over one year ago we launched the first of our Oceanus12 USV’s, and today, with the first Oceanus17 USV officially named, we’ve demonstrated our ability to design, build, and deliver successive generations of world-class autonomous vessels in just over six months,” said Matthew Ratsey, managing director of ZeroUSV.

The Oceanus17 uses MarineAI’s GuardianAI autonomy software for what ZeroUSV describes as level-four autonomous navigation, along with dual-redundant engineering systems intended to eliminate single points of failure. According to Navy Lookout, the class’s sensor suite includes X-band radar, daylight HD cameras, AIS Class B, an Airmar weather station and an active radar reflector, with communications provided through Starlink Marine, 4G and 5G links and Iridium satellite connections via Thales Vesselink.

The smaller Oceanus12, a 12-meter vessel with a 4-tonne displacement, has already been used in Royal Navy trials. In March, ZeroUSV said an Oceanus12 became the first uncrewed surface vessel to autonomously launch and recover a Teledyne Slocum glider, a demonstration conducted under the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Bastion program. Four Oceanus12 vessels have been built to date, with one delivered to a commercial hydrographic customer in Canada and another supplied to a U.S. defense customer for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance work, according to Navy Lookout.

“The Oceanus 17, the Lady of the Lake, is a remarkable achievement by British innovators,” Smith said. “Her ability to operate independently, endure extended missions, and perform multiple roles across the maritime domains embody the qualities we need in our defence, and commercial maritime capabilities.”

ZeroUSV is headquartered at Turnchapel Wharf in Plymouth and operates as a subsidiary of MSubs.