Skarv Technologies reported on 2 October that it and Maritime Robotics operated a paired uncrewed surface and underwater system during the September REPMUS 2026 exercise in Portugal. The firms used Maritime Robotics' Mariner X surface vessel with Skarv's CORAX 600 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for mine-countermeasure and environmental-assessment work. This is a specific Norwegian supplier demonstration within the multinational exercise, separate from the Royal Navy's anti-submarine experiments reported earlier in this archive.
The Mariner X served as a mobile communications and positioning bridge. According to Skarv, it followed above the CORAX 600, used an acoustic link to correct underwater position, and relayed AUV status, contacts and operator retasking over surface LTE and satellite links. The AUV used sidescan sonar and close-range optical imaging; the firm's published exercise imagery shows a practice target on the seabed. Skarv describes the 9-metre surface craft as carrying more than a tonne of payload, and the six-thruster AUV as rated to 600 metres. Those are supplier specifications, not independently measured exercise performance.
What the pairing tested
Underwater vehicles cannot rely on ordinary satellite positioning or radio links below the surface. A surface node can provide a position reference and a higher-bandwidth route to shore while keeping a crewed vessel away from a suspected hazard. Skarv says the pair completed its REPMUS operation successfully, after an earlier combined exercise at Mongstad in June. Its account does not publish mine-detection rates, positioning error, endurance achieved during the exercise, an operational naval customer or a procurement award.
The reported result supports a demonstration of integrated surface-and-subsea operation for practice-target survey. It does not show operational acceptance of the pair as a mine-countermeasure system. A named customer evaluation, repeatable measured results and an acquisition decision would establish the next programme milestone.
Publication history
- — Added named Norwegian USV–AUV REPMUS demonstration, with supplier attribution and no service-acceptance claim.
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Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Skarv Technologies REPMUS 2026 paired AUV–USV report, 2 October 2026 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer exercise report
