A quadcopter drone hovers over open water ahead of a red vessel's deck, illustrating the UK's development of an automatic drone landing platform for moving ships

UK Develops ‘World’s First’ Automatic Drone Landing Platform for Moving Ships

May 7, 2026 11:45 AMPublished May 7, 2026 11:45 AM

Could drones land and take off autonomously from moving ships at sea? A London-based developer says it has built the first system designed to make that possible.

Backed by over $7.5 million in initial funding, WaiV Robotics has unveiled the first fully automatic landing and takeoff system designed to operate on decks of any size from vessels as small as 10 meters (33 feet) long.

The platform uses AI-driven software and proprietary control algorithms to guide drones onto a gyro-stabilized landing surface, removing the need for a human operator during recovery.

Read the full story on NextGen Defense: UK Develops ‘World’s First’ Automatic Drone Landing Platform for Moving Ships