DSEI 2025: UK's SubSea Craft Victa transforms from fast surface vessel to submarine for deployment of special forces.
At the Defence and Security Equipment International 2025 exhibition, SubSea Craft unveiled the SubSea Craft Victa Class Diver Delivery Unit, a hybrid maritime platform that combines high-speed surface travel with rapid transition to submerged “wet” mode for covert operations. Designed with input from international military and technical experts, the 11.95 m craft carries two crew and six operators, offering 40 kn surface speeds, 250 nm surface range, and 25 nm submerged range with a two-minute dive transition. Built from carbon-fibre composites, it features fly-by-wire controls, advanced sonar and mission systems, modular shock-absorbing seating, and 140 kWh lithium-ion batteries, enabling versatile roles from special forces insertion to ISR and logistics support. Easily deployable by container, trailer, ship, or airdrop from aircraft such as C-130s, it has drawn international interest, including from South Korea and Japan, and marks a move toward modular, autonomous-capable platforms for operations in access-contested maritime environments.