This is the moment the Royal Navy’s nifty new robot boat scans an area of the seabed the same size as a football pitch in an hour and discovers a crashed helicopter and even swim lines caused by divers.

The Royal Navy shared images of the new Otter Pro on social media on 11th August with the message: “A new robot boat is being trialled by the Royal Navy for use on potential survey operations.

“The Otter Pro uncrewed vessel is able to use its sensors to gather data on the water around it and objects on the seabed.”

The test took place at the Defence Diving School on Horsea Island off the northern shore of Portsmouth Harbour.

The Otter Pro tests were carried out by the Royal Navy’s Project Hecla team.

The remote-controlled vessel conducted underwater surveys using its range of sensors to gather detailed data on the objects on the seabed and the water around it.

The Otter Pro gathered sonar images of numerous wrecks, including a helicopter, a motorboat and a day cruiser.

Offering detailed data, the sensors even picked up seabed erosion and swim lines caused by scuba divers.

During the first hour in the sea, the remote-controlled boat, made by RS Aqua Ltd, effectively surveyed an area the size of a football pitch.

The Royal Navy’s Commander Graham Mimpriss, who is leading the tests, said: “Although the Otter Pro is being operated to enable Project Hecla to refine future operating concepts of uncrewed surface vehicles in future military surveying application, it has begun to prove itself as being superior to existing portable systems.

“Using a rapid response context, this vehicle was mobilised within an hour of arrival having been transported to the site in a van.

“The team on its first outing surveyed Horsea Lake (7,000 square metres) in 40 minutes and then generated a viable product within an hour.

“This was achieved with a team of three without the need for a boat or jetty facilities for launching or recovery. During surveying, two of the team acted as pilots and looked out for the vehicle and the third was processing the data in near real-time.

“Our existing platforms would be hard-pressed to match this performance in a rapid response scenario.”

The Royal Navy said the next stage of trials will see the Otter Pro survey in a more complex environment, so experts can fine-tune its real-time processing.