Starting this Monday, Portugal hosts REPMUS26 (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems), the world's largest maritime robotics and drone experimentation exercise, running until September 25 in Troia and Sesimbra. The exercise takes place at the Naval Operational Experimentation Center in Troia, the Infante D. Henrique Technological Free Zone and other national exercise areas, covering an area of over 400 square nautical miles, equivalent to more than 1,370 square kilometers.
The event brings together more than 1,500 participants from 36 navies, in addition to more than 60 companies and research and development entities, 13 universities and five NATO organizations linked to maritime operations and unmanned vehicles. More than 300 unmanned systems supported by 14 ships will be present, covering surface, sub-surface, aerial and ground assets.
The exercise seeks to test, evaluate and develop technologies that could contribute to shaping the future of maritime security and defense in conditions close to an operational environment. The experiments will enable the evaluation of new forms of surveillance, information gathering, operation and support for military missions.
This is the 16th edition of REPMUS, organized by the Portuguese Navy in conjunction with the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation, the NATO Joint Capability Group and the European Defence Agency. In 2025, Portugal hosted participants from 37 countries, 13 of them as observers, and approximately 270 surface, sub-surface and aerial unmanned vehicles were tested.
