Scientific Systems Introduces VENOM, An Autonomous Small Unmanned Surface Vehicle
BURLINGTON, Mass., July 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Scientific Systems, an industry leader in developing AI-powered autonomy for defense applications announced today the debut of its Vehicle for Expeditionary Naval Over-the-Horizon Missions (VENOM) small Unmanned Surface Vehicle (sUSV.) Designed to address the Navy's operational need for sUSV interceptors, VENOM has effectively demonstrated its seakeeping performance and autonomy behaviors during sea trials and is available now for procurement by the Department of Defense and other government agencies.
VENOM is a multi-mission, 9-meter-long unmanned surface vehicle, featuring a rugged High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) hull and a 300HP outboard diesel engine. The sUSV delivers over 35 knots of sprint speed, a greater than 500-nautical-mile range at 24 knots in moderate sea state, and a loiter capability of 130 hours, surpassing the expected requirements of the Navy. VENOM has demonstrated the ability to autonomously transit through contested water space, avoiding static and moving obstacles, loiter in an assigned operating area while monitoring for maritime surface threats, and then sprinting to interdict a noncooperative, maneuvering vessel, making it ideal for missions including force protection (kinetic and non-kinetic), persistent ISR, contested logistics, and maritime patrols & security.
As an innovative, non-traditional autonomy software company, Scientific Systems joined forces with best-in-class teammates Tideman Marine and Sea Machines to deliver this software-centric unmanned surface vehicle. With manufacturing readiness secured, the team is prepared to rapidly scale delivery of this affordable, unmanned surface vehicle to meet anticipated Department of Defense needs.
'Scientific Systems was honored to work with partners to successfully test and qualify our production-ready, low-cost, autonomous VENOM interceptor that can travel hundreds of miles though contested water space,' said Scientific Systems Chief Executive Officer Kunal Mehra. 'The fact that Scientific Systems is leading a team of partners for this vehicle underscores the reality that the future of warfare is software driven. We are proud to continue to develop the type of cutting-edge autonomous solutions the U.S Navy needs to confront a new generation of threats at sea.'
VENOM features a hull made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), providing exceptional durability and strong resistance to hull fouling. Partner Tideman Marine is the world leader in welded HDPE vessel construction in terms of total number of boats, total number of contracts, and pedigree of success.
Designed to meet future demands, VENOM is architected to enable mission-level collaboration amongst large numbers of autonomous vessels – a key enabler of the Navy's vision for large scale USV operations.
Further information about the VENOM unmanned surface vehicle is available on the Scientific Systems website.
About Scientific Systems Company, Inc.
Scientific Systems Company, Inc. (SSCI) focuses on the creation of Autonomy and AI/ML-enabled capabilities to command, control, communicate with, and manage composable collections of intelligent agents, smart sensors, and autonomous platforms across the domains of space, air, land, and sea. Founded in 1990, the company invents disruptive technologies that are laying the groundwork for affordable mass while building trusted solutions for our customers' most challenging missions. To learn more, visit ssci.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sinar Daily
a day ago
- Sinar Daily
Who makes laundry smell nice? Meet the professional 'noses'
HOLZMINDEN - In the laboratories of German fragrance and flavours giant Symrise, a citrus scent clings to the lab coats of trainees, "noses" who are learning the art of making things smell good. These busy heroes of the world of smells and aromas shape the connection millions of consumers have with everyday items. While at high-end perfume labels, olfactory artists create scents for luxury body sprays, Symrise's experts work on everyday products that might range from mint-flavoured toothpaste to barbeque chips. Smell, a powerful sense that can trigger emotions and memories, and aroma often decide which food or beverage, cleaning or personal hygiene product ends up in the shopping cart. At Symrise's headquarters in Holzminden, a quiet town south of Hanover, each day at the company's in-house perfumery school begins the same way: sniffing out scents from dozens of tiny bottles while blindfolded. "It's just like tuning a musical instrument before you play," said Alicia De Benito Cassado, a 32-year-old former professional pianist from Spain. Her career switch into scent development was a natural step: she made her own perfumes as a teenager to match the poetry and music that she wrote. "For me, not everything has to smell good," she said. "The horror of smell also helps us discover ourselves." But commercial clients demand something different, De Benito Cassado added. "In the end, we need to create scents that are strong, beautiful, powerful and affordable." - Professional sniffers - Being a "nose" is a full-time job and comes with a three-year training programme. The smell of a fabric softener can be composed of 80 compounds, far more than in a premium body perfume and the best noses can make out over 1,000 different odours while blindfolded. Junior perfumers (L-R) Attiya Setai, Shangyun Lyu and Alicia de Benito Cassado hold smell strips which are used to evaluate fragrances in a mixing room at the Symrise company, where perfume oil formulas are developed, in Holzminden, central Germany. Photo by Michael Matthey/AFP Shangyun Lyu, 31, came from China to study at the school and says that a professional sniffer can get by with knowing about 500 scents. Being able to break down odours into their chemical components is key. "As a kid, I just smelled jasmine or gardenia as flowers," he said. "Now, I recognise the chemicals: it's a blend of many elements." Students weigh ingredients down to the milligramme, mix, smell and start over, often by replicating existing smells to understand their structure and then innovate from there. "When developing perfume, it is very important that several people smell it," said 56-year-old master perfumer Marc vom Ende, head of the school. "We all perceive smell differently." - 'Nose has the final say' - Pleasant smells cannot come at any cost and the rules of the game change over time. Lilial, a chemical once prized for its floral and sweet Lily-of-the-Valley notes, has been banned in the European Union since 2022 over fears it can cause skin irritation and damage the reproductive system. Fragrances applied directly to the body have stricter regulations than detergents, said 27-year-old South African trainee Attiya Setai. "We're more restricted in raw materials and must replace banned ingredients with new compliant ones," she said. Tastes also vary across global markets, with Shangyun pointing to the example of Chinese shampoos that sell well with a young clientele there but would struggle in Europe. "Something old-fashioned in one country can be new elsewhere," he said. Cost also enters the equation. Symrise extracts aromatic compounds from wood resin, a by-product of the paper industry, in a move "that makes both economic and environmental sense", said vom Ende. It is hard to be a nose. About 500 perfumers work in the industry and 80 of them at Symrise, which has a workforce of 13,000. The company markets about 30,000 products to clients ranging from confectioners to pet food manufacturers and suncream makers. Symrise's competitors include DSM-Firmenich, headquartered in both Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as Givaudan, another Swiss firm. Artificial intelligence increasingly plays a role, with computer programmes predicting which fragrances will hit the mark. Still, the machines cannot -- yet -- smell, even if they can understand speech and read text. "We're supported by AI," vom Ende said. "But the nose has the final say". - AFP
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Economic transformation needs fair, inclusive reforms
Upskilling: Job-specific training programmes should be developed to help local job-seekers find industry placements. — Filepic/The Star THE MCA Economic and SMEs Affairs Committee welcomes the tabling of the 13th Malaysia Plan (2026-2030) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday, in particular, the emphasis on fairness, sustainability, and inclusivity. These are the three core principles for Malaysia's future development and are exactly the type of reform our current economy and society urgently need. Only by moving towards a development path that is genuinely fair and professionally driven can our economy and society reach their full potential.
The Star
3 days ago
- The Star
US Senate committee backs $1 billion for Ukraine in Pentagon spending bill
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump's budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A powerful U.S. Senate committee approved a military spending bill on Thursday that includes about $1 billion to support Ukraine, despite President Donald Trump's administration having asked Congress to eliminate such funding in its budget request. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $852 billion for the Department of Defense in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2026, which is $21.7 billion, or 2.6%, more than the Republican president requested earlier this year. The committee voted 26-3 to send the spending measure for a vote in the full Senate, with strong support from both Democrats and Trump's fellow Republicans. "Not only the prior administration, but this administration as well, have underestimated the level of challenge that we have," said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who chairs the panel's defense subcommittee. The bill includes $800 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and $225 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, much of which ends up supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion. "I would say support for Ukraine is a billion dollars," Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the defense spending subcommittee's top Democrat, told reporters ahead of the Appropriations Committee meeting. Trump's budget request, and the defense appropriations bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, did not include any funding for the USAI, which funds security intelligence, training, equipment and supplies for Ukraine. However, many Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, backed support for Ukraine even before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022. And Trump himself recently has grown more frustrated with Moscow's refusal to agree to a ceasefire. He has recently announced deadlines for Russia to show progress toward ending the war or face new sanctions - despite in the past speaking about having a good relationship with Putin. Both McConnell and Coons stressed that the U.S. is learning from Ukraine while supporting its military. "Shutting off engagement with Ukraine would undermine our military's efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield," McConnell said during the committee meeting. The war in Ukraine has evolved into the most-drone intensive conflict ever, and the use of drone technology has helped Ukraine to deal with Russia's advantages in troop numbers, artillery and tanks. To become law, the appropriations bill must pass the full Senate and then be reconciled with the House of Representatives bill, which adhered to the Trump administration's $831.5 billion Pentagon spending request and did not include Ukraine aid. After that, it would be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto. (Reporting by Patricia ZengerleEditing by Frances Kerry)
