SYOS launched a new uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) designed for protection of critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) and mine countermeasures (MCM) at CNE 2026.
The SU10 drone was revealed to the public for the first time last week at Navy Leaders’ Combined Naval Event 2026, the largest annual naval event in Europe.
The fibre-optic-tethered UUV is controlled by the firm’s proprietary autonomy stack and can run for four hours on batteries, or indefinitely on surface power.
It has a 10kg modular payload capacity and can be equipped for a range of mission-specific sensors. It can be launched from shore, from a crewed vessel, or from a SYOS uncrewed surface vessel (USV) via a launch and recovery system (LARS).
Control options include remote operations from the launch point or anywhere globally via satellite link. The SU10 streams live data and suggests actions to the operator to reduce cognitive load.
The firm’s CEO and founder Sam Vye commented: “The SU10 extends our portfolio undersea and strengthens SYOS as a provider of affordable interoperable uncrewed capability across land, sea, air and now subsurface.
“These are products that stand-alone as class-leaders, or operate as part of a connected, multi-domain uncrewed system — delivering operational effect from air to seabed, through our SYOS single autonomy stack, AAIMS.
“The SU10 enables rapid, scalable operations across both defensive and offensive mission sets. When paired with uncrewed surface vessels and uncrewed aerial systems it becomes part of a offshore node that can deploy, coordinate and adapt, while keeping people out of harm’s way.”
The drone was developed by the firm, which has dual bases in the U.K. and New Zealand, from earlier iterations used in New Zealand’s offshore oil and gas industries for pipeline survey, inspection and intervention tasks.
The SU10’s potential mission sets include MCM, seabed assurance, CUI protection, persistent surveillance, harbour security, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
The firm has scheduled further testing in harsh conditions towards the end of 2026, when systems will be tested in the Antarctic; they are set to be used for long-range, under-ice mapping as part of an international research partnership.
- You can read more details on the SYOS website