CommunicationPublished on 5 October 2026

REPMUS 2026: armasuisse represents Switzerland at leading international exercise

From 31 August to 25 September 2026, the international programme REPMUS (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems) took place in Troia, Portugal. Switzerland participated under the leadership of armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T), with a team comprising five industry partners.

Moana Häfeli, Staff, armasuisse Science and Technology

A line of flags representing the countries taking part in the exercise — REPMUS 2026 — © DDPS

In brief

REPMUS is the world’s leading experimental program for maritime unmanned systems (MUS). Held in Troia, Portugal the event is coordinated and organized by the Portuguese Navy and various international organizations, including NATO, the European Defence Agency (EDA) and national institutions. In 2026 armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T) acted as Switzerland’s national lead assembling a team of five Swiss industry partners. They participated in international exercises, promoted knowledge exchange and demonstrated innovative technologies to a broad international audience.

REPMUS: The leading experimental exercise for maritime unmanned systems

Since its launch in 2010, the Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems (REPMUS) has continued to grow. Today, REPMUS is the world’s leading experimental exercise for maritime unmanned systems (MUS). The 2026 edition brought together several thousand participants from more than 30 countries.

The event, which takes place over several weeks, is hosted and led by the Portuguese Navy and co-organized alongside the Joint Capabilities Systems (JCGMUS) of NATO, the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto and the European Defence agency (EDA).

At the heart of the exercise is the testing of various unmanned and autonomous systems. Further, REPMUS provides a unique opportunity for academia, industry and end-users to test not only unmanned systems, but also intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) concepts and interoperability under real-world conditions and in operational scenarios. This collaborative environment helps drive technological development, identify new applications and demonstrate the capabilities of unmanned systems in multi-purpose operations.

Focus of REPMUS 2026

In 2026 the exercise focused on seven core operational areas designed to advance the integration, tactics, and interoperability of unmanned systems in maritime warfare. Including following areas:

Naval Mine Warfare (NMW): Advancing autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) procedures, accelerating data processing, and evolving tactical cooperation from sequential exercises into a single, unified operational scenario.
Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA): Rapidly collecting, processing, and distributing oceanographic and meteorological data to quickly integrate environmental intelligence into the Common Operational Picture.
Critical Undersea Infrastructure Protection (CUIP): Monitoring, detecting, and countering threats directed at undersea communication cables, pipelines, and strategic energy installations.
Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance & Port Security (ISR): Deploying interconnected sensors from seabed to space to build real-time tactical situational awareness, specifically focusing on generating a Recognized Underwater Picture to secure ports and coastal approaches.
Command, Control, and Communications (C2): Testing open-architecture standards like STANAG 4817 to ensure seamless, secure live data sharing between multi-national unmanned systems and allied command structures.
Counter-Unmanned Systems & Electronic Warfare: Developing force protection tactics against asymmetric drone threats and testing hardened, anti-jamming communication systems in GNSS-denied environments.
Swarm Operations: Demonstrating collaborative autonomy where multiple unmanned air, surface, and underwater vehicles coordinate missions simultaneously with minimal human intervention.

One of the major improvements at this year’s edition was the implementation of STANAG 4817, a NATO standard designed to ensure the interoperability of unmanned systems, including aerial, surface, and underwater drones. The standard “STANAG 4817” was validated and tested during REPMUS 2026 to ensure that every asset can report its position.

armasuisse at REPMUS 2026

For the second year running, Switzerland – represented by armasuisse Science and Technology (S+T) as the national lead– was present with its own team in Troia, Portugal, comprising start-ups, industry representatives and experts from armasuisse.

Five industry partners – Ascento, Avientus, CDDS, Tethys Robotics and Xer Technologies – attended as part of the Swiss team, already expanding Switzerland’s presence at REPMUS compared to the previous year.

Participation in REPMUS gives Switzerland and armasuisse an opportunity to strengthen existing partnerships, build new national and international connections and showcase technological expertise to key stakeholders. For industry partners, the event provides a valuable environment to receive operational feedback, accelerate prototype testing and demonstrate their technologies to an international audience.

During this year’s final demonstration, the international visibility of Swiss industry was further enhanced, as Swiss companies were among those selected to showcase their technologies in front of VIPs. This provided an additional opportunity for the Swiss industry to strengthen their presence and underlined a successful 2026 initiative.

I am proud of the Swiss companies’ part of REPMUS this year and about the robustness and efficiency of their different assets

Jean-Christophe Coulet, National Lead Switzerland for REPMUS 2026

Representatives of the Swiss delegation at REPMUS 2026 are posing for a group photograph in front of a Navy ship. — Swiss Delegation at REPMUS 2026 — © DDPS

Participating industry partners in 2026:

Ascento is a Swiss robotics company developing autonomous security solutions for large outdoor sites. Hence, the opportunity to collaborate with local police on security and critical infrastructure surveillance during a major international NATO exercise such as REPMUS provides a valuable real-world setting to demonstrate the capabilities of autonomous robotic security solutions.
Avientus, an ETH Zurich spin-off, is developing a novel kind of multi-purpose fixed-wing VTOL drone for defense and dual-use applications. It flies missions traditionally performed by quadcopters while offering the high speed and long range of a fixed-wing aircraft and a low heat, radar and noise signature. The goal at REPMUS 2026 was to demonstrate that one drone can cover several missions: logistics, deployment of underwater countermeasures and ISR. Testing this under realistic conditions alongside international armed forces and industry partners gave valuable operational feedback and new contacts.
CDDS secures the skies with autonomous kinetic interceptor drones built to protect lives and critical infrastructure from emerging aerial threats. Their interceptors combine high-speed head-on engagement, autonomous guidance, and swarm capabilities in a compact system designed for rapid setup and easy integration with existing defence systems. REPMUS 2026 provided them a valuable environment to challenge their technology, gather valuable operational insights, and collaborate with international partners on the future of counter- Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) defence.
Tethys Robotics is a Swiss deep-tech company developing compact underwater robots (ROVs) that detect, identify, classify and neutralize naval mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other explosive threats. Its Tethys ONE platform covers the full Mine Countermeasures (MCM) cycle in a single system, keeping divers out of the blast radius in Naval Mine Warfare and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operations. At REPMUS 2026, Tethys Robotics demonstrated its full search, identify, classify and neutralize capability with combined NATO navy teams, including a cross-platform serial in which a navy Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was working together using STANAG protocol to enable a full MCM cycle. Participation validated the system's interoperability in realistic NATO scenarios and delivered direct operator feedback that shapes the Tethys roadmap towards uncrewed and low-crewed MCM.
Xer Technologies is dedicated to developing long-endurance hybrid-electric UAS for demanding maritime and overland defence missions. Rapid payload hot-swapping and refueling enables its systems to be quickly reconfigured and redeployed, supporting a high level of operational availability across multiple mission types. REPMUS therefore provided an ideal environment to demonstrate the versatility and endurance of the X8 PRO across two distinct maritime applications: persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and over-water magnetic anomaly detection.

Conclusion and Outlook

Once again Switzerland brought its innovation capabilities into REPMUS and underlined the need to develop and standardize new technology in collaboration with partners from NATO and the EU. This strengthens Switzerland’s position as a trusted partner in the fields of innovation, defence and security

This kind of international cooperation is crucial to ensuring compatibility and integration within the international community. REPMUS provides real-life examples of how autonomous systems can support the protection of territory, how rapidly technologies are evolving, and it demonstrates the growing influence of artificial intelligence in autonomous systems.

armasuisse S+T is proud to have been part of REPMUS 2026 and to contribute to this unique platform. Moreover, armasuisse S+T would like to thank all participating Swiss companies for their valuable contributions, as well as all involved partners for their commitment, support and organization.