Page 42: of Marine Technology Magazine (Jul/Aug 2026)

VESSELS & VEHICLES ¦ ACUA Ocean ¦ Hyliion Holdings ¦ ACUA Ocean USV Collects 100 Hours of Continuous ing and simultaneous tracking of multiple maritime and

Multi-Domain Data airborne emitters.

ACUA Ocean's Mk1 USV PIONEER has successfully com- • Geolocation of a low-power satellite Personal Locator Bea- pleted a ? ve-day remotely operated o? shore demonstration, con (PLB) from approximately 22 km from PIONEER's posi- validating multi-domain maritime operations using an un- tion at sea, with the beacon located to within approximately crewed surface vessel. 20 meters of its true position inside Devonport Dockyard be-

On Monday, June 22, 2026, PIONEER departed Turncha- fore its location was passed to HM Coastguard.

pel Wharf, Plymouth, and operated continuously 16–20 nau- The demonstration also validated the operational concept of tical miles o? shore until Friday, June 26, completing more a persistent, low-cost USV acting as a common host platform than 100 hours at sea without physical intervention. The for multiple independently developed payloads. Sensors from demonstration combined two independent mission systems di? erent manufacturers were integrated and operated concur- operating simultaneously: rently without a? ecting one another.

• A CommsAudit SPECTRA Super Resolution Direction The trial also demonstrated the potential for long-endurance

Finding (SRDF) surveillance system, with antenna and re- USVs to provide persistent ISR, maritime security and hy- ceivers installed aboard PIONEER. drographic capability for the protection of ports, national in- • An advanced Multi-Beam Echo Sounder (MBES) under- frastructure, o? shore energy assets and strategic waterways. taking hydrographic survey operations. ACUA Ocean's Mk2 PIONEER, scheduled to enter the water

To demonstrate land/sea operations, the RF surveillance ca- in Q2 2027, will extend endurance to several weeks while of- pability was supplemented by a second land-based Electronic fering greater payload capacity of seven tons, increased sprint

Warfare system, Guardian Vantage, provided by Leonardo speeds and mission capability.

and deployed on England's south coast.

Throughout the mission, PIONEER was monitored and ¦ Hyliion USX-1 Defiant USV Chosen as Launch Platform controlled from ACUA Ocean's Remote Operating Centre in for KARNO Core Sea Trials

Plymouth, while hydrographic data was streamed in real time Hyliion Holdings Corp. announced that the U.S. Navy’s Of- and the CommsAudit payload was independently controlled ? ce of Naval Research (ONR), in partnership with the De- and analyzed from its operations center near Cheltenham. The fense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has demonstration tested the simultaneous operation of multiple selected the USX-1 De? ant as a candidate test vessel for Hy- payloads from di? erent OEMs, managed by separate organi- liion’s KARNO technology. Initial sea trials are funded under zations, from geographically dispersed locations. a development program from the O? ce of Naval Research

Despite ambient temperatures exceeding 35°C, wave heights (ONR) to advance the use of KARNO Cores for onboard above two meters, electrical storms and ? ve days of continu- power generation in U.S. Navy vessels.

ous exposure to the marine environment (including the inevi- For the USX-1 De? ant sea trials, Hyliion will deliver a drop- table attention of hundreds of seabirds), PIONEER completed in 800 KW power system consisting of four 200 KW KARNO the mission without interruption. Cores in a keel cooled con? guration. The modular architecture

Key outcomes included: is designed to demonstrate reliable, low-maintenance power • More than 100 hours of continuous remote-controlled o? - generation for an unmanned vessel, where onboard servicing is shore operation without physical intervention. not available. Trials are aimed at highlighting KARNO technol- • Production of Admiralty chart-standard multibeam bathy- ogy’s inherent scalability and redundancy, with power units that metric data across tens of square nautical miles of the Eng- can be distributed across the ship to support mission reliability.

lish Channel. The USX-1 De? ant was developed under DARPA’s No Man- • Continuous passive RF surveillance with direction ? nd- ning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, which challenged 42 July/August 2026

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