Seasats: Quickfish USV completes 8-day continuous sea trial (VIDEO)

March 20, 2026, by Fatima Bahtić

California-based USV startup Seasats has revealed that its Quickfish unmanned surface vessel (USV) completed an 8-day continuous sea trial.

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, according to the company.

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.

Seasats unveils new autonomous surface vessel Quickfish

Vessels

According to Seasats, 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.

Seasats is among the few companies to surpass the typical 1–2 day endurance limit, achieving record-setting trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic crossings.

These milestones helped secure major Department of War (DoW) contracts. In 2025, the company announced an $89 million SBIR Phase III award to support U.S. Marine Corps USV programs, followed by a $24 million APFIT contract win in 2026.