Compressing traditional defense acquisition timelines, where typical “flash to bang” from design to prototype can often take years, Oceanus17 breaks that cycle by utilizing a spiral development process to accelerate the design, engineering, and subsequent build phase to months, rather than years, enabling faster iteration, quicker learning from trials, and delivery at scale and pace.
The National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) was set up to empower a globally successful, innovative, and sustainable UK shipbuilding enterprise. The NSO sees maritime autonomy as a significant economic growth opportunity for the UK shipbuilding and maritime technology sector, as well as key to delivering the future Hybrid Navy.
Oceanus17 also underscores the ability of the UK supply chain to deliver high-tech autonomous vessels without reliance on overseas production. The platform is being built entirely in the UK, ensuring intellectual property, skills, and manufacturing value remain onshore, while keeping sensitive autonomy, data handling, and control systems under UK authority. This approach aligns with the Defense Industrial Strategy, strengthening industrial resilience, supporting regional shipbuilding hubs, and delivering cutting-edge dual-use technology.
Built from a durable aluminum hull, it will be certified for unlimited operations and has been designed to operate in harsh Atlantic conditions. with a mission capability in excess of 50 days at sea. Just as Oceanus12, Oceanus17 will feature dual redundancy in all critical systems, removing single-point failures, ensuring continuous operation even in demanding environments. Fitted as standard with the GuardianAI navigation system, designed by Plymouth-based MarineAI, Oceanus17 delivers level 4 autonomous navigation, navigating safely as a single unit or as part of a coordinated fleet.
Matthew Ratsey, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Zero USV, said: “Whilst 2025 has been a highly successful year for ZeroUSV with our Oceanus12 fleet, we are conscious of the need to keep iterating, and in the background we have been working hard on the design, development, and now the start of the build of Oceanus17.
“Oceanus17 already represents over 1,500 hours of design and engineering, and is another major milestone for our team and an exciting step forward for UK maritime autonomy. We designed this platform to meet the increased payload demands and long deployment requirements for challenging deep-water operations. Bringing Oceanus17 to market so quickly after Oceanus12 shows what agile British shipbuilding can do; a secure, sovereign capability built in the Southwest and ready to adapt payload capability to meet the true dual-use versatility that this platform has been designed to be.”
Rod Paterson, CEO of the National Shipbuilding Office, said, “I am delighted to support Zero USV’s announcement of the start of construction of Oceanus 17 at Manor Marine, building on the experience and success of Oceanus 12. Having visited both Zero USV and Manor Marine, and many other brilliant British SMEs, I am hugely impressed by their innovation, agility, and craftsmanship. The development and construction of Oceanus 17 enhances our sovereign capability, drives local economic growth and skills, offers future export potential, and is being developed at pace. This is all critical to our Defense Industrial Strategy, our future hybrid Navy ambitions, and the new NSO Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan, which we will publish next year.”
ZeroUSV will progress Oceanus17 through build, trials, and certification milestones across 2026. The company’s target is to have the first vessel on the water in time for Seaworks 2026, complete with an MCA Workboat code 3 certificate, demonstrating how the UK industry can deliver sovereign autonomous capability rapidly and at scale.
