Uncrewed Surface Vessel

In partnership with New Zealand Customs, the Royal New Zealand Navy acquired two Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) ‘Tahi’ and ‘Rua’ in April 2025, following a seven-month trial in 2024.

The USVs use solar, wind or wave motion for propulsion and to power their monitoring systems, allowing them to operate at sea for up to three months before returning to shore. They can handle sea states up to 7. Their sensors include radar, electro-optic and infrared cameras.

They are designed to undertake a wide variety of roles for the Government of New Zealand and Pacific island nations on request, including fishery and border protection, and providing meteorological data.

But being acoustically silent, makes the USV particularly suitable for conducting stealth surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

When deployed at sea, the USVs are monitored and operated 24/7 from a control room at Devonport Naval Base. Communication with the control room is through mobile phone signal while close to shore or via high- and low- bandwidth satellite when further offshore.

They can be transported by trailer to almost anywhere in New Zealand to be launched and recovered from a boat ramp. They can also be craned on and off a Navy ship to launch on operations while deployed overseas or transported via Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J-30 Hercules aircraft.

Specifications