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At Forcys, we understand that modern maritime security demands more than just sophisticated sensors or autonomous vehicles – it requires seamless integration of cutting-edge technology. This is where the combined expertise of our technology partners comes into play. The capabilities of EIVA’s ViperFish, alongside advanced solutions from Sonardyne, and Wavefront Systems are reshaping how subsea threats are monitored and managed, ensuring that the maritime defence community has the tools needed for effective real-time operations.

ViperFish is an all-in-one remotely operated towed vehicle (ROTV) designed for high-resolution data collection in autonomous operations. At Forcys we see the integration of this product as a significant step forward in autonomous operations. Designed for seabed imaging and geophysical surveys, ViperFish performs these tasks with remarkable precision, particularly and can even be paired with unmanned surface vessels (USVs). This opens up new possibilities for autonomous operations in complex underwater environments, enhancing mission safety, efficiency and data accuracy.

By combining this ROTV with positioning systems, sonar technology and EIVA’s NaviSuite survey software, we deliver a powerful, integrated solution that supports critical defence missions. ViperFish’s ability to automatically maintain a set height above the seabed makes it an invaluable tool for mine countermeasures, UXO (unexploded ordnance) surveys, and rapid environmental assessments.

“Forcys leverages Covelya Group partnerships to deliver solutions that provide capabilities beyond the sum of their individual components,” says Antonio Belfiore, Senior Sales Manager at Forcys. “Additionally, the combined research and development expertise across our group of companies enables Forcys to rapidly adapt to emerging threats and evolving mission requirements. This knowhow was instrumental in the development of ViperFish. Designed to be the tool of choice for mine-hunting across the littoral and in riverine environments, Viperfish is also easy to use and provides your team actionable data in real-time.”

In the context of mine warfare, these integrated solutions are revolutionising the way threat detection is carried out. By relying on autonomous vehicles that can navigate complex underwater environments with precision, defence teams can carry out missions more efficiently and frequently than ever before. The combination of ViperFish’s flexibility and the advanced sensor technologies it brings together enables vast subsea areas to be covered with unprecedented detail.

These advancements not only improve operational efficiency but also provide the necessary foundation for many future maritime and defence security operations.

At Forcys we’re proud to be part of this journey, ensuring that autonomous technology plays a central role in securing your assets.

Read more about our technology partner EIVA. 

Discover ViperFish ROTV deployed by ProZero 8m Naval Intelligence USV:

At Forcys, we are committed to delivering innovative underwater technology solutions that are both reliable and cost-effective. A key part of our approach is leveraging Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software and hardware to meet the complex demands of maritime communications.

COTS solutions provide pre-built, readily available technology designed for seamless integration into existing systems. Unlike bespoke solutions that require extensive customisation and long development cycles, COTS offers a faster, more efficient, and cost-effective alternative for customers looking to enhance their capabilities.

We recently spoke with our Technical Sales Manager, Benn Pickering, who brings extensive experience in sales, business development, and customer relations. He shared his insights into the advantages of COTS technology and its growing impact on underwater operations.

Benn explains, “Rather than invest time and resources into something bespoke, you can take advantage of existing, well-tested solutions. In fact, COTS technology is also known for its reliability, having been built on years of industry-wide testing and refinement. These solutions are designed to withstand the harsh conditions of underwater environments. This is crucial for maritime operations, where equipment must perform flawlessly for extended periods. With COTS, you benefit from tried-and-tested technology that has already been proven in real-world conditions.”

Another key advantage is that with continuous updates and advancements in the commercial sector, COTS solutions evolve to keep pace with emerging technologies, ensuring they remain relevant for years to come. Standardised hardware and software also make repairs and replacements simpler and faster, while user familiarity with these systems reduces training time and support requirements.

“The ability to integrate new advancements without overhauling entire systems is a major advantage,” Benn points out. “It gives you the confidence that your investment will remain valuable as technology progresses.”

“At Forcys, we go beyond simply offering COTS products. Our technology partners are creating an ecosystem of compatible technologies that work seamlessly together, providing end-to-end solutions without compatibility issues,” Benn shares.

By staying ahead of industry developments, Forcys empowers clients to tackle maritime challenges with confidence and efficiency.

A great example of COTS technology in action is our technology partner Sonardyne’s SPRINT-Nav, an all-in-one subsea navigation instrument that integrates an inertial navigation system (INS), a Doppler velocity log (DVL), and a depth sensor into a single, compact unit.

“SPRINT-Nav is a great example of how COTS can offer high-performance solutions without the costs and complexity of a custom-built system. It is designed to provide robust, long-endurance navigation, making it ideal for AUV and ROV operations. It has already been used extensively in support of offshore underwater operations and has become the navigation system of choice for most large autonomous underwater vehicle manufacturers. A bespoke navigation system takes years to develop, manufacture, and test. At the end of that process, you could still fall short of your goals. With systems like SPRINT-Nav, you can pre-determine the outcome from the data sheet.”

“However, if you are required to meet military standards, leveraging COTS solutions is an excellent strategy. It allows you to begin with a proven, functional product and focus your efforts on ruggedisation. We’d be happy to partner with you to achieve full Military-Off-The-Shelf (MOTS) compliance.”

If you’d like to find out more, please reach out to our team.

Held at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center from April 6th to 9th, Sea-Air-Space is the premier maritime exposition in the U.S., bringing together defense industry leaders and top military decision-makers from around the world to share the latest advancements in the maritime domain. Forcys will be exhibiting at the Prince George’s Exhibition Hall on booth 350.

Forcys will be exhibiting at NAVDEX in ADNEC Marina, Abu Dhabi, UAE on stand C-043 from the 17th to the 21st of February 2025. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirate, NAVDEX is held alongside IDEX, the International Defence Exhibition and Conference .





Ranges are a critical to support ongoing underwater operations. They provide a controlled environment to calibrate and validate sensors, determine acoustic source levels for submarines and ships, and provide safety and ground-truth data for undersea warfare exercises and torpedo firings. They are commonly used to support submarines, anti-submarine warfare tools and mine warfare. Underwater ranges are complex systems requiring specialist tools to help deploy, recover and accurately track the equipment and kit while submerged.

Essential tools for underwater range operations

This is where the right equipment can determine the difference between success and failure. If you are operating a range here is a handy list of tools:

Train like you fight

Most naval ranges require significant infrastructure and maintenance, and they are busy supporting existing naval capabilities. With a new generation of uncrewed systems being developed in large numbers, additional capacity and scalable solutions are needed.

To develop a solution to this bow wave of need for additional underwater acoustic and tracking range capability and capacity, Forcys has been working in conjunction with Sonardyne to supply the Position Vector Transponder (PVT). These PVTs form the heart of a deployable system and can be delivered — on a lean budget — anywhere at any depth. They deliver high positional accuracy and can track across a larger volume of water than a USBL solution. They can be scaled down or up to meet specific concepts of operation requirements. This system has already been demonstrated in partnership with QinetiQ at MoD BUTEC and REPMUS.

Using the same building blocks as the permanently deployed solution at Smart Sound Plymouth, our solutions are proven and deliver results needed to get our warfighters ready.

If you would like to find out more please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Forcys, a global leader in underwater defence technology, and DRASS, a renowned name in the manufacturing of diving systems and underwater vehicles, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at revolutionising underwater operations.

Forcys integrates and brings to the defence market world-changing solutions from leading technology partners Chelsea Technologies, EIVA, Sonardyne, Voyis, and Wavefront Systems. These companies are renowned for their innovative offerings in underwater and maritime operations, making them ideal partners for DRASS.

Luca Biasci, SDV & LUUV Program Manager at DRASS, emphasizes the significance of this collaboration: “DRASS has consistently been at the forefront of technological innovation in the underwater domain. With this partnership, Forcys’ robust portfolio of advanced payload technologies will be integrated with our Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (LUUVs), RONDA, expanding our suite of solutions to meet the evolving demands of the underwater sector.”

Under this agreement, Forcys’ advanced underwater vehicle systems and sensor payloads will complement DRASS’ capability to meet the evolving needs of navies.

Antonio J. Belfiore, who leads sales in the Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa (EMEIA) region for Forcys, recently visited DRASS headquarters in Livorno, where the final details of the agreement were ironed out.

“We are thrilled to partner with DRASS, a company that shares our commitment to innovation and excellence,” said Antonio J. Belfiore. “This partnership allows us to combine our expertise and provides customers with state-of-the-art systems that enhance operational capabilities and ensure safety and efficiency in underwater missions.”

Both companies are committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the underwater domain, leveraging their combined expertise to deliver state-of-the-art solutions to defence markets worldwide.

Multi-Aperture Sonar (MAS) systems have been designed to deliver high-frequency, high-resolution, and long-range imaging data to improve the probability of detection of unexploded ordnance (UXO), mine-like objects, and improvised explosive devices (IED) while minimising the probability of false alarms.

MAS outperforms traditional side-scan in virtually all underwater environments and is also known to deliver data approximating synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) at a fraction of the power required. Where MAS truly comes into its own is when operating in shallow to very shallow waters (SW, VSW) across the littoral. In these waters, the acoustic environment is particularly hostile. The output from traditional side-scan and synthetic apertures sonars (SAS) is affected by higher order multi-path reverberation, unstable velocity of sound profiles, often unknown, as well as significant bathymetry, baseline decorrelation effects and platforms that are unstable. The result is far less reliable end sonar products with greater impact to longer range systems. This is particularly acute in tidal and riverine environments.

However, the ease of MAS operations is not to be underestimated when planning a deep-water campaign. Effective operations save time and money.

Deep water AUV operations. Image courtesy of NOAA and Deepwater Surveys of World War II U.S. Cultural Assets in the Saipan Channel.

Because MAS is simple to operate it can be easily integrated into your application. The following are just a few examples in the public domain that illustrate where Solstice MAS from our technology partner Wavefront Systems has been integrated:

Some key differentiation is follows:

Did you know that a version of Solstice exists that doubles the along-track resolution. The S4000  is longer and consumes more power, 37 W including on-board real time processing, but delivers improved performance to support identification of smaller targets across the whole 200 m swath.

If you would like to find out more please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Forcys is excited to announce they have been selected by Ocean Aero as a payload provider for their world-leading autonomous underwater and surface vehicle (AUSV), the Triton.

The Triton is the world’s only environmentally powered AUSV. Completely solar and wind powered, it can travel at speeds of up to 5 knots and can submerge for up to 5 days at 2 knots.

A true multi-domain workhorse, the Triton can be used as a force multiplier for defence operations, offering easy logistics, launch, and recovery while evading detection using autonomous avoidance and deep diving capabilities.

Forcys will be supplying Ocean Aero with SPRINT-Nav Mini, the world’s smallest hybrid acoustic-inertial navigation technology from its technology partner Sonardyne and Solstice, the leading multi-aperture sonar (MAS) for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) systems, from its technology partner Wavefront Systems.

Forcys’ General Manager and Head of Global Sales, Dan Zatezalo welcomes their selection: “We are thrilled that Ocean Aero has chosen us as their payload provider for defence applications. Their revolutionary technology is a great complement to our offer, and we think their customers are going to love the results. We look forward to working with them in driving the autonomous ocean defense technology sector forward.”

Bob Marthouse, COO from Ocean Aero said; “A key differentiation in our selection process is the performance to power ratio. We need to maximize the value from our payloads while managing the power consumption to sustain our mission goals. This is where the technology from Forcys makes a significant difference. On our last mission, everyone was highly impressed with the Solstice MAS.”  With Forcys’ marine defence market expertise, alongside its access to many technology partners, and Ocean Aero’s many applications for the Triton, the partnership looks set to be a revolutionary and fruitful one.

Over 80% of global trade is seaborne. About two-thirds of the world’s oil and gas supply is either extracted at sea or transported by sea and up to 99% of global data flows are transmitted through undersea cables. None of this information is new but it pays to remind ourselves of these facts at a time when reliance on undersea infrastructure has never been higher and is likely only to increase.

The National Protective Security Agency (NSPA) provides the UK government’s definition of Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). While the definition applies to all infrastructure, not just maritime, terms like cables and pipelines are absent. CNI is defined by the impact of loss of its availability, integrity or delivery of essential services. The global economy and need for energy security leads us to conclude that a great deal of that seabed infrastructure is critical to the national interest.

Your infrastructure is at risk

Just as the technological explosion of land and air drones is re-writing land doctrine in Ukraine, the development of highly capable remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles has put more of our seabed based national infrastructure at risk from our from our adversaries. While communication pipelines tend to be buried, the nodes and shallow infrastructure are vulnerable, and oil and gas infrastructure is largely exposed and detectable with rudimentary technology.

Technology options

So how do modernising navies regain the advantage and protect our critical national infrastructure? Sub-surface and Seabed Warfare is not new, nor is it a discrete domain of underwater warfare. During Forcys’ discussions with navies around the world, we see the distinctions increasingly blurred between: port and harbour defence; persistent area surveillance; mine warfare; mine countermeasures; environmental protection compliance; hydrographic survey and military data gathering; intelligence collection; anti-submarine warfare and submarine operations. The enabling factor in this is off-board systems. Off-board systems can provide more mission options on increasingly scarce platforms. Containerised solutions provide operational flexibility to switch between roles.

Navies are wise to consider the technical solutions that have been developed for the offshore energy and scientific research sectors. The offshore industries routinely deploy autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) systems, remotely operated vehicles (ROV) systems, and towed vehicles – all capable of detailed inspections.  The same technology that monitors pipeline health – from side-scan sonar to high-resolution laser scans and optical imagery – can be repurposed to identify suspicious activity. In the same way that the effectiveness of a navy is multiplied when it operates at sea (within reasonable limits it could be anywhere), the presence of credible autonomous systems provides an effective deterrent to an adversary. Exploration in deep water is leading to resident AUV and ROV systems performing surveys and maintenance between underwater re-charging and data transfer. These systems can be supported by precise positioning networks and through water communications to enable real-time monitoring, warning, and response. From a defensive perspective the presence of credible autonomous systems employed randomly in an outward surveillance mode may deter an adversary from their course of action.

Recent workshops relating to use of unmanned systems and the likelihood of our forces needing to operate in diverse and potentially unfamiliar environments to protect our nation’s interests all raise a common observation: that industry holds the bulk of the knowledge of what infrastructure lies on the seabed, what that infrastructure is carrying (to allow an assessment of how important it is) and the environmental conditions of the area. Recognising that offshore companies have paid large sums to obtain this data, some of which could be useful to a competitor, there is no appetite to freely share such information. A frequent comment by naval officers is that “you would not believe just how much infrastructure there was on the seabed”. This begs the question of whether navies are ready to operate safely and effectively within such an unfamiliar and poorly understood environment.

Partnerships

So, how can companies be encouraged to release the data they hold? Abstracted to a problem of source protection, security and sharing the answer is, optimistically, yes: anything is possible. But realistically, to overcome significant challenges including multinational ownership, individual company vulnerabilities and cost of implementation this must be government led. At Forcys we are encouraged by initiatives like NATO Digital Ocean and the establishment of the CNI Hub at NATO Maritime Command. At a national level in the UK where I am based, there is surely a role for the NSPA or UK Hydrographic Office in managing a limited access database of seabed infrastructure within the UKs Exclusive Economic Zone for use by UK Defence if required. Perhaps the most compelling reason to support data sharing is the benefits that the improved protection will bring. Time will tell.

Ultimately, the short-term future of seabed warfare does not lie exclusively in expensive new unproven technologies, but in smarter ways to use the tools we already possess alongside breakthrough capabilities. By working together, we can ensure the safety of our underwater lifelines, keeping the lights on and the world connected. At Forcys, we understand both the threat and the technology. We want to be where technology, experience and innovation meets security.

Justin Hains MBE left the Royal Navy in 2020. Among other professional qualifications, he completed the Advanced Mine Warfare Course and the Amphibious Operations Planning Course during a career as a Mine Warfare Clearance Diving Officer and Principal Warfare Officer (Underwater).