Seasats Quickfish USV Completes Continuous Eight-Day Sea Trial

Successful sea trial demonstrates long-endurance capability for the interceptor-class USV, directly addressing customer demand for extended time on station and platform reliability.

SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Seasats today announced the successful completion of an 8-day continuous sea trial with its high speed "Quickfish" USV. The Quickfish is a high-speed interceptor, with a top speed of over 35 knots, and is the only known vessel in its class to offer a designed on-station endurance up to multiple weeks. This endurance allows the pre-positioning of Quickfish in key areas to enable rapid response in support of port security, border protection, and coastal defense applications.

Since its unveiling in October of 2025, the Quickfish has been actively completing customer exercises and offshore testing. These events have focused on advancing autonomy, testing safety features, and demonstrating reliable operations. Two key features differentiate the Quickfish from similar vehicles: first, it features a payload bay specifically designed for delivering unmanned aerial vehicles. Second, the Quickfish pairs low-speed electric propulsion with a high-speed jet drive, enabling multiple weeks of on-station time.

"The Quickfish was a natural extension of our proven Lightfish USV. It's built to provide the persistence that our customers require. Solving the persistence problem is a critical piece for moving these vehicles beyond one-way attack missions and into a wider range of maritime operations," said Mike Flanigan, CEO and founder of Seasats.

Over the last two years, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have reshaped global naval doctrine. Ukraine used small USVs to push the Russian Navy back in the Black Sea, and in the Red Sea, the Houthis used low-cost, explosive-laden USVs to target commercial tankers. Earlier this year, Taiwan announced plans to procure 1,600 USVs to strengthen its defenses. A common limiter of small USVs to date has been on-water endurance. Short ranges may be acceptable for offensive operations, but it is a major drawback for many other missions.

Seasats is one of the few companies to break past the 1-2 day endurance limit, completing record-setting trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic crossings. Those successes led to significant Department of War (DoW) contracts. In 2025, Seasats announced an $89M SBIR Phase III award to support USMC USV efforts, and in 2026 the company announced a competitive $24M APFIT win.

"Reliable, scalable USVs are going to be key for U.S. and allied maritime defense. Quickfish will play a big part in that," continued Flanigan.

About Seasats
Seasats builds long-endurance autonomous surface vessels for defense, commercial, and scientific missions. By combining commercial manufacturing agility with defense-grade reliability, Seasats delivers small, cost-effective unmanned systems that extend maritime reach, enhance situational awareness, and reduce risk to personnel.

SOURCE Seasats