One architecture,
a fleet of HAUVs.
Every BeeX vehicle is a hovering autonomous underwater vehicle — it holds station and manoeuvres like an ROV, untethered like an AUV. The current fleet spans the flagship A.IKANBILIS, the lightweight ALPHA and the high-endurance BETTA, with the swarm-capable, expendable CASPER on the roadmap — scaling to the mission.
Hovering autonomy, scaled to the mission.
BeeX builds the industry's most scalable inspection model around one idea: a vehicle that hovers and holds station like a work-class ROV, but flies free of any tether like an AUV. The fleet shares that DNA and differentiates on endurance, payload and role — a lightweight inspector you carry as hand luggage (ALPHA), a flagship survey vehicle (A.IKANBILIS) and a high-endurance, heavy-duty manipulator platform (BETTA) — with a defence-configured, swarm-capable expendable drone (CASPER) on the development roadmap.
A HAUV is an untethered underwater robot that can hover and hold a precise position against a target — then move in any direction, inspect and decide on its own, with no pilot flying it and no cable connecting it to the surface.
Two tools, and neither fit the mission.
Underwater work has always forced a compromise. The ROV can stop and study a mine or a weld, but it is chained to a ship by a tether — which means a pilot for every vehicle, a launch crane, limited range, and a cable that snags, drags and radiates a signature. The survey AUV is free and covers ground fast, but it flies a pre-planned track like a torpedo: it cannot stop, cannot hold station on a contact, and cannot re-investigate what it just passed. For mine warfare and infrastructure protection, you needed both — and could carry only one. The HAUV ends that compromise.
ROV · Survey AUV · HAUV
The HAUV isn't a better ROV or a better AUV. It's a third category that takes the strongest trait from each and drops the weaknesses.
Work / Observation ROV
- Can hover and hold station on a target
- Physical tether — snag, drag, range limit
- One trained pilot per vehicle
- Tether radiates an acoustic / EM signature
- Needs a crane and a host vessel on station
Survey AUV
- Free-flying, no tether, long transit range
- Torpedo-style — cannot stop or hover
- Flies a fixed track; can't re-attack a contact
- Limited close-in inspection of structures
- Recovery and re-tasking are slow
Hovering Autonomous UV
- Hovers & holds station like an ROV
- Untethered & free-flying like an AUV
- Autonomous — supervise many, not one
- No tether signature — EMCON-friendly
- Hand-launched from any craft, no crane
Where each class wins and loses
The same seven questions an operations officer asks of any underwater asset — answered across all three classes.
| Operational question | Work / Obs ROV | Survey AUV | BeeX HAUV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can it hover & hold station on a contact? | Yes | No — must keep moving | Yes — station-keeping |
| Is it tethered? | Yes — cable to the ship | No | No tether |
| Operators required | One pilot per vehicle | Mission planner + recovery | One supervisor for many |
| Acoustic / EM signature | High — tether + host on station | Low | Low — untethered, EMCON-friendly |
| Launch & recovery | Crane + dedicated host vessel | Deck handling gear | Hand-launched from any craft |
| Re-investigate a contact it passed | Yes, if still tethered in area | No — fixed track | Yes — turns, holds, re-attacks |
| Scales to wide-area / swarm | No — one pilot each | Partly | Yes — many per operator |
Generalised class comparison for orientation; specific ROV/AUV systems vary. BeeX figures reflect the A.IKANBILIS-class HAUV.
Three hovering AUVs, one mission system
Each vehicle carries the same hovering autonomy and feeds the same Sambal cloud portal — choose by depth, endurance and payload. A fourth platform, the swarm-capable CASPER, is on the roadmap.
A.IKANBILIS — The Flagship. The Disruptor.
“The world's most advanced autonomous underwater drone for its class.” A 60 kg Level-3 hovering AUV rated to 150 m, with a 7-sensor perception and positioning suite and a 2–8 hr hot-swap battery — the platform proven at ANTX and integrated with the ELWAVE and Reach payloads.
- Depth150 m
- Weight60 kg
- Forward thrust1.8 kn
- Endurance2–8 hrs (1 kWh)
BETTA — Power & Endurance
“Power. Endurance.” The heavy-duty member of the fleet: a 300 kg platform with a large 12 kWh battery for 8–24 hr missions, support for a manipulator payload, faster transit, and IHO-compliant survey-grade positioning.
- Depth150 m
- Weight · size300 kg · 140×135×45 cm
- Forward thrust3.5 kn · multi-dir 2.9 kn
- Endurance8–24 hrs (12 kWh)
ALPHA — Lightweight & User-Centric
“Lightweight. User-Centric.” A 53 kg portable inspector that fits in carry-on cases, rated to 100 m, with upgraded inspection capability — the fleet's most deployable vehicle for fly-away teams.
- Depth100 m
- Weight · size53 kg · 84×75×38 cm
- Forward thrust2.2 kn · multi-dir 1.6 kn
- Endurance2–8 hrs (1 kWh)
CASPER — Roadmap Concept
A concept on BeeX's development roadmap, not yet a shipping product: a defence-configured, swarm-capable and expendable drone envisaged for mine counter-measures and naval security where attritable mass matters. Configuration is mission-defined.
- StatusRoadmap / concept
- Forward thrust4 kn (target)
- Endurance · depth10 hrs · 50 m
- ClassSwarm-capable · expendable
The fleet, side by side
One mission system, four platforms — compare depth, endurance, speed and payload in a single view.
| Specification | A.IKANBILIS | ALPHA | BETTA | CASPER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class / role | Flagship survey | Lightweight inspector | Heavy-duty · endurance | Roadmap · expendable |
| Depth rating | 150 m | 100 m | 150 m | 50 m (target) |
| Weight | 60 kg | 53 kg | 300 kg | — |
| Dimensions | 89×81×43 cm | 84×75×38 cm | 140×135×45 cm | — |
| Forward thrust | 1.8 kn | 2.2 kn | 3.5 kn | 4 kn (target) |
| Multi-directional speed | 1.4 kn | 1.6 kn | 2.9 kn | — |
| Battery · endurance | 1 kWh · 2–8 h | 1 kWh · 2–8 h | 12 kWh · 8–24 h | 10 h (target) |
| Payload | 7-sensor suite | 7-sensor suite | + manipulator · IHO positioning | Mission-defined |
CASPER is a roadmap concept; figures shown are BeeX targets, not shipping specifications.
The flagship hovering AUV, in detail
A 7-sensor perception and positioning suite lets the A.IKANBILIS hold a precise position and track targets without a tether or surface fix — the foundation for repeatable, autonomous inspection of structures and seabed.
- Depth rating 150 m · weight 60 kg · 89×81×43 cm
- Forward thrust 1.8 kn · multi-direction 1.4 kn
- 1 kWh hot-swappable battery · 2–8 hr endurance
- 7-sensor perception & positioning for structural and seabed inspection
Cluttered steel, moving water, no pilot
Across 700+ deployments and 18,000+ operational hours, A.IKANBILIS has held station and inspected dense subsea structures in current — the same demands a navy meets in wreck survey, harbour-infrastructure protection and mine work.
150+ members, 0.8 kn current, one autonomous shift
On one fixed structure standing 71 m to the seabed — four legs and more than 150 cross-braces — a single A.IKANBILIS autonomously mapped and inspected the whole structure at multiple points, staying clear of entanglement with sonar-aided navigation and object tracking, and handling currents up to 0.8 knots with no operator flying it.
For a navy or coast guard that is the proof point: an autonomous vehicle that copes with cluttered steel and moving water is exactly what wreck survey, seabed-infrastructure inspection and mine counter-measures demand.
See the full evidence base →From hand-launch to hovering survey
The fleet shares one operating cycle — what changes is how many vehicles run it at once.
Launch
Hand-launch a pre-calibrated HAUV from any vessel — vessel-agnostic LARS, no crane, no tether, water entry in under a minute.
Hover
The vehicle holds station and manoeuvres in any direction, staying located by its 7-sensor perception and positioning suite.
Capture
Autonomous lines gather video, forward-looking sonar and 3D point-cloud data across structures and seabed.
Scale
Hold one on task or run a swarm at an X-to-1 drone-to-operator ratio to multiply coverage without adding crew.
Multiply the seabed you can cover.
Because no vehicle needs its own pilot or tether, a single operator can supervise a swarm — turning wide-area mine search and survey from a sequential task into a parallel one. The roadmap CASPER concept extends this with attritable drones for the highest-risk work.
Inspection, survey and mine warfare
Structural & Seabed Inspection
Repeatable inspection of foundations, pipelines, hulls and seabed — captured autonomously and reported through Sambal.
Explore Sambal →
Mine Counter-Measures
Hovering AUVs support the full mine cycle — detect, classify, identify, intervene — while crewed platforms stay clear of the threat; the roadmap CASPER concept aims to scale this into swarms.
See the missions →
Clearance Diving Support
Autonomous detection and classification ahead of divers, keeping personnel out of the water until a contact is characterised.
See the missions →A safe pair of hands for defence at sea
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Training, spares and support for the full operational life of the system.
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For spec sheets, capability documents, pricing or to arrange a briefing or demonstration — on this system or any platform in the SepcoTech defence portfolio — contact me directly:
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