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From seabed to surface: persistent maritime surveillance with DriX USVs
September 5, 2025
Rising geopolitical tensions and the increasing strategic importance of seabed defense, underwater protection, and maritime security are driving navies to seek new solutions. Across the world, defense forces face the challenge of safeguarding underwater critical infrastructures, such as subsea cables, energy pipelines, offshore platforms, and maritime routes, against both conventional and asymmetric threats. This evolving environment has accelerated the demand for autonomous and unmanned technologies that can provide persistent surveillance, high-quality data gathering, reduce risks to personnel, and extend naval reach, in challenging conditions.
Exail’s DriX Series of Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) responds to this need with a comprehensive range of models combining long endurance and multi-mission flexibility. Already proven at sea, the DriX fleet is now delivering operational capability across Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Critical Maritime Infrastructure Protection (CMIP), and Military Hydrography, making it a trusted asset for modern navies.
Operational capability demonstrated at sea
U.S. Navy Task Force 59 - 2022/2023
- High reliability and seakeeping, with excellent performance in speed and stability;
- Third-party payload integration, including radar and EO/IR cameras;
- Robust communications, operating across Starlink, Certus, 4G, Wi-Fi and Silvus , ensuring redundancy and resilience in complex environments;
- Safe autonomous navigation, supported by an advanced collision avoidance system.
- 400 hours of operations with no downtime
The Drix demonstrated !
Exail’s DriX USV has been successfully deployed with the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 59 (TF59), the dedicated unmanned systems unit created within the 5th Fleet to accelerate the integration of autonomous technologies into naval operations.
In December 2022, DriX took part in the Digital Horizon Unmanned & Artificial Intelligence Exercise in Bahrain, a three-week event that brought together 15 USVs and UAVs to test collaborative unmanned operations for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
Feedback from TF59 highlighted DriX’s ability to integrate within a multi-unmanned collaborative organization, contributing effectively to the creation of a Common Operating Picture in the Gulf.
Building on this success, DriX was selected again in March 2023 for International Maritime Exercise 23 (IMX23), the largest naval exercise in the Middle East. The event involved 7,000 personnel, 35 ships and over 30 unmanned systems from more than 50 partner nations. Within TF59’s unmanned task group, DriX operated in MDA and Mine Countermeasures (MCM) tactical scenarios, demonstrating how autonomous systems can be combined with allied naval forces to secure vast and strategic maritime regions. DriX operated for over 240 hours with no downtime.
U.S. Navy Task Force 4th fleet - Operation Windward Stack - 2024
Exail’s DriX USV has also been deployed with the U.S. Navy’s 4th Fleet, which covers the Caribbean and South Atlantic region. Operating in the sensitive waters, the DriX was tasked with both surface and subsurface surveillance to support Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA).
The mission focused on ISR patrols, combining electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) cameras for surface monitoring with Exail’s Forward-Looking Sonar (FLS) for underwater detection. This dual capability enabled continuous tracking of maritime traffic and enhanced awareness of potential threats across both domains.
Over the course of this campaign which lasted 90 days, the DriX operated for 3500 nm and confirmed its ability to provide long-endurance surveillance with minimal logistical footprint.
Dragoon Fury - France - 2025
In March 2025, Exail’s DriX H-8 USV participated in Exercise DRAGOON FURY, a major amphibious exercise organized by the French Navy (Marine Nationale). Conducted over two weeks, the operation involved the amphibious assault ship LPD Tonnerre and various unmanned systems were tasked with detecting and monitoring potential asymmetric threats.
The DriX H-8 was embarked on Tonnerre to perform missions of Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). The USV was deployed as discreet radar pickets and reconnaissance assets, extending the ship’s surveillance perimeter and enhancing maritime situational awareness.
In parallel, the DriX H-8 has also been integrated into an Operational Experimentation Reaction (OER) initiative funded by the French procurement agency DGA. During this campaign, French sailors took remote command of the USV, testing its connectivity, maneuverability, onboard sensors, and remote operation capabilities. The trials marked a significant step toward the operational integration of unmanned surface vessels into the French fleet, with a specific focus on assessing their deployment feasibility from amphibious helicopter carriers.
Together, the DRAGOON FURY exercise and the OER trials highlight the French Navy’s growing interest in USVs like DriX, confirming their role as force multipliers in both amphibious operations and broader maritime security missions.
In September 2025, The SHOM The French Hydrographic Service of the French Navy) also took delivery of its own DriX H-8, a strategic milestone in the modernization of Shom’s capabilities, addressing the growing demand for reliable and certified marine data for both civilian and military purposes.
credit: Marine Nationale
credit: Marine Nationale
NATO Task force X - Finland - 2025
Exail has recently supported France and NATO in Finland as part of the Task Force X initiative, deploying a DriX H-8 USV during a three-week campaign. The exercise, run in June 2025, tested the ability of allied forces to operate advanced unmanned systems in some of the most challenging maritime environments in Europe.
Operating in the Baltic and Finnish coastal waters poses significant difficulties: GNSS interference, unpredictable weather, limited communications coverage, and complex littoral geography. Within this demanding environment, the DriX H-8 proved its resilience and operational value.
The USV was employed for Critical Underwater Infrastructure Protection (CUIP) and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) missions, operating continuously day and night. Its endurance, seakeeping up to sea state 5, and redundant communications systems ensured reliable data collection even in conditions of satellite navigation disruption. Thanks to its autonomy and mature design, the DriX was able to function independently of GNSS and SATCOM, providing a secure and persistent source of situational awareness.
By delivering real-time, high-precision data through its integrated sensor suite, the DriX H-8 contributed directly to multi-domain operations, enhancing naval operational readiness and allied interoperability.
DriX, force multiplier for surveillance, seabed mapping and reconnaissance
As the protection of seabed infrastructure and maritime domains has become a strategic priority, navies are turning to unmanned systems for persistent surveillance and defense. In this context, Exail’s DriX USVs offer a unique blend of long endurance, advanced autonomy, speed and high-grade data collection capabilities.
DriX combines persistence with precision: operating in GNSS-denied environments, integrating seamlessly into naval C2 networks, and supporting multi-drone collaborative operations. Its sea-proven launch and recovery interface has already been integrated on 15 different vessels and validated through more hundreds successful deployments, whether from amphibious ships, motherships, or directly from shore. This capability extends the fleet’s operational reach while reducing risks to crews. It offers proven integration of advanced payloads such as multibeam echosounders, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profilers, and ISR sensor suites. This makes DriX not only a surveillance asset, but also a force multiplier for seabed mapping, infrastructure inspection, and tactical reconnaissance.
As a mature, field-proven platform, DriX demonstrates how autonomous USVs are becoming indispensable tools for securing the world’s oceans.
