Exail has unveiled Neptis, its new integrated autonomous maritime surveillance system designed to coordinate distributed autonomous assets.
It has been built around the new Oryx family of Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs), defence-grade payloads and an integrated mission command-and-control system.
Neptis has been designed for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Critical Undersea Infrastructure Protection (CUIP) and Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) missions.
“Naval surveillance has traditionally relied on sending valuable ships and crews into the areas that need to be monitored. Autonomous systems fundamentally change that equation,” Head of Maritime Autonomous Systems at Exail, Sébastien Grall, said.
“With Neptis, navies can establish persistent presence across much larger areas, multiply their surveillance capacity and reduce the burden on crews and operators. The objective is to sustain that presence over time, support faster, better-informed decisions and expand surveillance capacity without proportionally increasing the number of personnel dedicated to these missions.”
To enable this new operational model, Exail draws on the experience gained with UMIS, its proven mine countermeasures system, where multiple surface and underwater unmanned platforms, mission payloads and communications are integrated and coordinated within a single system.
With Neptis, Exail extends this system-integration experience to a broader range of naval operational requirements.
At the core of Neptis, the command-and-control system enables operators to supervise and coordinate multiple autonomous platforms within a common operational environment.
Its modular architecture can combine tactical track visualisation, mission planning, classification, advanced data fusion, AI-assisted decision support and interoperability with higher-level command systems, according to each navy’s operational requirements and existing C2 environment.
As part of the Neptis system, the Oryx Series offers a range of autonomous surface vessels designed for diverse naval Concepts of Operations (CONOPS). Specifically developed for naval missions, these USVs build on Exail’s extensive experience in designing and operating robust, long-endurance, low-signature platforms.
The Oryx H-8, H-9 and O-16 address different endurance, deployment and payload requirements across coastal, offshore and multi-sensor naval missions.
This experience includes 1.5 million plus nautical miles navigated by Exail USVs worldwide; 300,000 plus operational hours across civil and defence missions; 90 plus USVs sold worldwide across the DriX and Inspector ranges; Sea State 7 proven survivability and navigation capability; and participation in operations and exercises involving the US Navy, NATO and the French Navy.
Exail will present the Neptis system and the Oryx USV family to the international naval community at Euronaval in November 2026.