Singapore-based autonomous drone developer BeeX has been named a winner of the Mine Countermeasures Modernization Prize Challenge, advancing the company toward system integration with the U.S. Navy.
Organized by the U.S. Department of War Innovation Unit and the U.S. Navy, the challenge evaluated mature commercial technologies designed to reacquire and neutralize bottom and volume mine threats within the water column. Utilizing modular, communication-resilient uncrewed systems, BeeX demonstrated a reacquire-to-engage kill chain over high-latency, low-bandwidth, over-the-horizon links while operating from a safe standoff distance, independent of a dedicated platform.
The platforms also reacquired moored mines untethered, showcasing the reliability of the company’s autonomous acoustic and perception stack. Unlike traditional Remotely Operated Vehicles that depend on manual remote control and constant video feed monitoring, BeeX’s platforms operate precisely in both untethered and tethered modes, using their full sensor suite to independently localize and reacquire mine-like contacts across search areas.
This defense capability builds upon BeeX’s established track record in commercial offshore operations, where its autonomy stack was trained on 14 years of proprietary operational data to reliably and quickly detect anomalies.
“Our drones were initially built for demanding commercial offshore work, which pushed our engineering teams to design intelligent, stable platforms that can handle rough underwater conditions. That design has carried over directly to defense missions,” said Grace Chia, CEO and Co-founder of BeeX. “As underwater security becomes a growing strategic priority, we look forward to giving defense agencies a rapid, reliable, and cost-effective way to counter mine threats while keeping crews out of harm’s way.”
