SeaOwl unveils the Tracus Combat drone boat, which can carry a 30 kg KNDS warhead

SeaOwl has unveiled the Tracus Combat, an uncrewed surface vessel shown at the Euronaval exhibition in Paris, with its KNDS-made warhead on display at the KNDS stand nearby, EDR Magazine reports. SeaOwl's earlier Tracus, built on a jet-ski, has been used by the French Navy for three years to train gun crews against attacking drone boats.

The new boat was designed from scratch but keeps the core of the earlier vehicle's software, adapted for swarm operations; EDR understands one operator can control several boats, probably around 10. It is 3.25 metres long and 1.25 metres wide, is driven by a water jet, can exceed 40 knots and has a range of more than 150 nautical miles.

A satellite link allows operations beyond the horizon, and a mast carries day or thermal cameras. The plug-in mission package can hold jammers and decoys, surveillance sensors, or a 30 kg warhead when the boat is used as a naval loitering munition.

KNDS makes the warhead in a fragmentation version against swarms of drone boats and a shaped-charge version against large warships, plus a safety device that lets an aborted boat be recovered. SeaOwl also showed Sealancer, a launch box that pushes the boat off a ship from up to 7 metres high. EDR says this version has not yet been tested at sea, with trials due very soon.