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Product profile

XV Excalibur / CETUS

XV Excalibur is the Royal Navy extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle developed through Project CETUS with MSubs. The 12 m, 19 tonne XLUUV is being used a...

Facts

Company
MSubs
Product type
auv
Status
commercial
Primary capability
Extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle
Website
https://msubs.com/

About XV Excalibur / CETUS

XV Excalibur is a 12 m, 19-tonne extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle built by MSubs for the Royal Navy’s Project CETUS. The battery-powered test platform is designed to operate autonomously beneath the surface and provides internal volume and external interfaces for experimental payloads. It is the largest uncrewed submarine placed into Royal Navy trials.

The vehicle is being used to evaluate navigation, communications, command, launch and recovery and the military utility of large autonomous-underwater systems. Payload and autonomy trials can be conducted without committing directly to an operational submarine design. MSubs supplied the vehicle and engineering, while the Royal Navy operates it through its experimentation programme under the vessel name XV Excalibur.

Market context

marine_robot, defence_subsea_autonomy_trials, https://ukdj.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2026/06/CETUS.jpg, extra_large_uncrewed_underwater_vehicle, https://zlsbkmaixmmnjrgpkcyp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/robotics_assets/products/msubs/xv-excalibur-cetus-official-product-hero-16x9-2026-07-01.png, products/msubs/xv-excalibur-cetus-official-product-hero-16x9-2026-07-01.png, marine_underwater, actual_product_photo_16x9_crop, XL-AUV, marine_underwater, xl_auv

Summary

Type: XL-AUV

Core: CETUS vessel

Function: Subsea trials

Audience: Navies

Specifications

classification
Extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV)
displacement
19 tonnes
length
12 m
payload_posture
Internal volume and external interfaces for experimental payloads
power_system
Battery powered
programme
Project CETUS / XV Excalibur
trial_contract
GBP 6.68M trial and evaluation phase through 1 May 2028

Operations

Environment
subsea, defence_trials, open_water
Primary user
royal_navy, submarine_delivery_agency
Role
autonomy_trials, payload_testing, military_utility_evaluation
Interaction model
autonomous_mission, remote_supervision
Mobility class
xl_auv, uuv
Product detail
marine_robot, defence_subsea_autonomy_trials, https://ukdj.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2026/06/CETUS.jpg, extra_large_uncrewed_underwater_vehicle, https://zlsbkmaixmmnjrgpkcyp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/robotics_assets/products/msubs/xv-excalibur-cetus-official-product-hero-16x9-2026-07-01.png, products/msubs/xv-excalibur-cetus-official-product-hero-16x9-2026-07-01.png, marine_underwater, actual_product_photo_16x9_crop, XL-AUV, marine_underwater, xl_auv

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