This perspective, I stress, comes from a viewpoint of privilege and experience. SeaRobotics has been in the business of designing and manufacturing autonomous marine systems since 1999. We have successfully delivered over 70 USVs in that time, and notwithstanding the numerous milestones over the last 25 years, I can say with a large degree of certainty that this is the most exciting era for commercially scalable uncrewed platforms, intelligent systems of systems that, with the steady integration of AI and ML advancements, will irreversibly change the way marine professionals—from commercial operators to warfighters—work at sea.
What an uncrewed system can do today bears little resemblance to the early days of USV development. The reality is that today’s USVs vary so tremendously in terms of form and factor, and the category itself is no longer intuitive. For example, the US Navy envisions building USVs over 90 m long, with a displacement of up to 2,000 tons—larger than a patrol vessel, smaller than a frigate. Conversely, on the commercial market, you can buy USVs that claim to be a meter in length, weighing in at less than a paltry 20 kg. They are both fundamentally USVs (the defense community is considerate enough to label theirs an XLUSV), but the tasks that they are designed to execute in target waters are quite distinct.
Despite this diversification, however, there is still an underlying premise, a genesis of sorts, that still unites these two very different assets: a desire to descale manned operations in the field to reliably deliver leaner, greener, and ultimately safer deployments.
Today, thanks to the ingenuity and collaboration of various supply chains and partners, the business of conceptualizing a USV and then manufacturing it to exact specifications is completely different. The capacity to build multipurpose USVs—that is, platforms that are outfitted with control systems and payloads primed for a growing array of tasks, in a range of marine conditions to a flexible degree of autonomy— means that uncrewed assets have a far broader application than ever. For commercial operators, USVs now represent a feasible investment, the benefits of which they can directly pass on to their end customers.
This shift has invited USV developers to focus their R&D on specific markets. For SeaRobotics, this has meant an increased emphasis on serving commercial marine survey practitioners and coastal defense and security agencies.
MARINE SURVEY
For the marine surveyor, the promise of USVs means less time spent doing and more time managing the doing. This paradox has triggered a new dawn for remote operations, whether over the horizon or in line of sight.
By gradually incorporating USVs into the standard ways of working, surveyors can pass on the efficiencies of streamlining topside support (e.g., removing or downsizing a crewed survey boat) directly to their clients.
Having a USV run relatively routine tasks, such as planned survey lines, renders other benefits beyond cost savings, including greater precision and accuracy (thanks to the elimination of human error and the stresses associated with manual control); better HSE practices (thanks to the removal of personnel from potentially hazardous waters where traditional vessels may be impeded); and quicker data processing and interpretation (thanks to the potential of real-time data management and intervention from a shore-based command or workboat).
These cumulative benefits ultimately free up the survey professional to concentrate on other important aspects of the job, like survey processing and QAQC, ultimately meaning customers receive validated data sooner.
FORCE MULTIPLICATION
These benefits are directly scalable through force multiplication—a synchronized, multiboat USV mission plan intended to accelerate operations—and there is increasing evidence of the effectiveness of such deployments for a broadening range of applications, from naval defense ops to the frontlines of hurricane research.

Over the last few years, SeaRobotics has developed its own USV Swarm Unit, with our SR-Surveyor M1.8 as its chief protagonist. This model of USV exemplifies the growing demand for truly man-portable USVs. It is plug-and-play ready, quick to deploy and recover, and is ideally suited to running exercises in hard-to-navigate and potentially hazardous waters thanks to its shallow draft. The USV’s payload is fully integrated, but certain sensors can be swapped in and out, making the SR-Surveyor M1.8 units ideal for force multiplication exercises. The more we, the industry, can optimize USVs to work in unison under a shared system of controls, the more likely we are to see uncrewed assets working together remotely and autonomously above, on, and below the waterline in years to come.
SIZE MATTERS
Our other focus right now is on the development of larger, more robust USVs designed to operate in higher sea states and for longer periods. Our SR-Endurance 8.0 USV is ideally suited to surveillance missions, seabed mapping, and infrastructure inspection. It boasts a hybrid diesel-electric power system capable of supporting missions with a range of over 1,000 nautical miles with varying levels of autonomy. Capable of a top speed of 9 knots, the USV can run campaigns up to 9 days at a survey speed of 5 knots.
Further, with an onboard payload capacity of 600 kg and a 3.7 m x 1.5 m aft deck bay, a moon pool, and a dry enclosure with digital, serial, ethernet, and power, the SR-Endurance 8.0 is equipped to handle a wide range of sensors, as well as the launch and recovery of ancillary assets, such as smaller USVs—like our SR-Surveyor M1.8—as force multipliers.
Radar, LiDAR, AIS, and GNSS, and 6 cameras—4 fixed, 1 PTZ, and 1 FLIR—come as standard to optimize image capture and ensure obstacle detection and avoidance procedures when running autonomously.
HUMAN IN THE LOOP
The current rate of USV development and application across the ocean sector unquestionably hints towards a future in which a system of collaborative robotic solutions is a suitable replacement for ocean-based tasks that, traditionally, have been heavily reliant on human resources.
However, the suggestion that a new fleet of uncrewed assets removes the need for human oversight is, for now, at least, entirely erroneous. But we have, for all intents and purposes, begun on a transitory journey to rewrite how we manage work scopes at sea, whether for subsea exploration, naval defense, or purely scientific purposes.
As I am sure past generations of ocean technologists would attest, this transition will demand that marine professionals pivot as required, acquire new skills, and keep this industry on the leading edge of innovation.
This feature appeared in ON&T Magazine’s 2025 Special Edition, The Future of Ocean Technology, Vol. 5, to read more access the magazine here.