BMT Unveils Modular Uncrewed Ship Concept MODUS at DSEI

British firm BMT has unveiled its Modular Uncrewed Ship concept MODUS at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London.

The MODUS concept is built on a modular design approach, allowing vessels to be tailored for specific missions such as offshore survey, seabed warfare and anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The company has developed pre-concept designs for a 40m medium uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and a 75m large USV.

The project builds on six years of research, including the Highly Autonomous Warship Technology (HAWT) program completed in 2021 and the Large Uncrewed Surface Vessel (LUSV) initiative demonstrated at DSEI 2023. These efforts laid the foundation for MODUS by advancing automation, lean-crewing, and scalable vessel designs.

MODUS is designed to support both naval and commercial applications, including hydrographic survey, asset inspection, environmental monitoring and maritime logistics. While currently at the research stage, the company said the concept provides a blueprint for future uncrewed systems.

A technical paper authored by BMT experts will be released after DSEI, detailing MODUS’s modular architecture, operational concepts and design innovations.