Thales, ASV partner for more autonomous vessels

WEYBRIDGE, England, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Thales and ASV, an unmanned surface vessel technology company, are strengthening their partnership in Britain.

The move to jointly develop autonomous unmanned surface vehicles follows successful trials of their jointly developed Halcyon, an unmanned surface vessel that is a key asset of the French - U.K. Maritime Mine Counter Measures program, Thales said.

The optionally crewed Halcyon is nearly 38 feet long and has top speed of 30 knots. Designed and built by ASV, it provides high speed transit, stability, maneuverability and endurance and uses Thales' mission and autonomy management systems.

In recent trials it demonstrated autonomous operations involving complex behaviors and demonstrated how a USV can work autonomously with a multi-national squad of unmanned underwater vehicles.

"This agreement, which builds on the strong existing relationship and the combined skills and expertise of the two companies, provides world leading, innovative solutions for autonomous maritime requirements," Thales said.