Kongsberg Maritime Arctic Hunter Anti-Submarine Warfare USV (Photo: Kongsberg Maritime)
To support the British Royal Navy’s transition towards a Hybrid Navy, Thales in the United Kingdom has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kongsberg Maritime, a Norwegian defence company, to jointly develop an integrated ASW solution combining Thales’ underwater warfare expertise with Kongsberg Maritime’s Arctic Hunter Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) and autonomous technology.
In a press statement, Thales says that it will contribute its expertise in underwater warfare, AI-enhanced underwater sensing, tactical planning and secure military communications. Its capabilities include advanced sonar technologies currently used on the Royal Navy’s Type 23 and Type 26 frigates, acoustic modelling and AI-assisted exploitation developed by cortAix, its artificial intelligence accelerator.
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Kongsberg Maritime will provide its Arctic Hunter USV as the autonomous platform for the proposed integrated ASW solution. Combined with UK platform build, the partnership aims to bring together autonomous platforms, advanced underwater sensing, tactical intelligence and secure connectivity into an end-to-end capability.
The statement adds that the collaboration supports the Royal Navy’s transition towards a Hybrid Navy, which requires greater connectivity between sensors, systems and platforms to detect, track and respond to underwater threats across increasingly complex maritime environments.
Phil Siveter
The UK–Norwegian cooperation is also expected to strengthen defence and industrial ties between the two countries while supporting NATO’s maritime security and deterrence efforts across its northern flank. The partnership aims to address evolving underwater threats and reinforce security across the North Atlantic and High North.
“The future Hybrid Navy will be defined by how effectively the platforms are connected, how they share information and how quickly they can turn that information into operational advantage. Thales brings the underwater sensing, tactical planning and secure communications expertise that will be critical to making this vision a reality,” says Phil Siveter, CEO of Thales UK.
