Voyis reported on 14 October that its imaging equipment was used with a CGUARD Yellow Tail remotely operated vehicle during the September REPMUS 2026 exercise. The system combined side-scan sonar for finding candidate objects with a Discovery Stereo camera for close visual inspection, a Sonardyne SPRINT-Nav Mini inertial and Doppler navigation unit, and visual simultaneous localisation and mapping software. The reported task was mine-countermeasure target localisation and identification, not disposal of live mines.
Reported exercise results
Voyis says operators identified 26 mine targets during the demonstration. It reports an average geolocation error of less than 0.4 metres, about two minutes to locate a target with side-scan sonar and about four minutes from sonar localisation to visual inspection. The average mission duration was two hours and 30 minutes. These are the supplier's reported exercise measures; the release does not provide a full trial dataset, target mix, independent evaluation or a basis for applying the averages to other seabeds or visibility conditions.
The workflow illustrates a useful division of labour. Sonar can search an area and flag a contact, while close optical imagery can help an operator distinguish a mine-like object from a harmless one and build a georeferenced three-dimensional record. The underwater vehicle still needs its own navigation because satellite signals do not travel through water. None of the reported figures shows neutralisation, repeatable detection probability across conditions or a fleet-ready system.
Programme status
The source establishes a supplier-reported REPMUS exercise demonstration of a particular ROV and sensor combination. It does not name a procurement award, naval service acceptance or operational mine-clearance deployment. A customer trial report, repeat performance under stated environmental conditions and any acquisition decision would clarify the next milestone. The site's underwater-systems and maritime-autonomy coverage explains the wider uncrewed mine-countermeasure chain.
Publication history
- — Added supplier-reported Yellow Tail underwater target-identification measures, distinguishing exercise identification from live mine clearance and acceptance.
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Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
