Royal Navy tests robotic boat that autonomously launches and recovers a tethered drone
British company ACUA Ocean and American firm Teledyne FLIR Defense completed a UK Ministry of Defence-funded demonstration pairing the SkyCarrier drone launch system with the USV Pioneer uncrewed surface vessel. In January 2026, the Pioneer maintained stability in 4.25-meter waves, reducing roll by 60% compared to monohull vessels. The tethered SkyRanger R70 drone received continuous power and data from the boat, enabling persistent aerial surveillance without landing for recharging. The drone features onboard AI for real-time object detection and classification. The Pioneer has already completed Royal Navy contracts for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare. The demonstration could change how the Royal Navy monitors its waters using fully autonomous systems.
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Reports are grouped by semantic similarity and deterministic rules. Language models may assist titles, summaries, translation and cross-source analysis; the page itself is projected from evidence records.
- Current automated evidence projection