Helsing Unveils AI-Powered Underwater Drone Swarm for Naval Surveillance

Helsing outlines plan for unmanned mini submarines for naval surveillance

European defence technology start-up Helsing has unveiled plans for a fleet of unmanned mini submarines that it claims will greatly enhance naval surveillance, at a time of rising threats to ships and critical ocean infrastructure. The company said its autonomous glider, SG-1 Fathom, would be able to patrol underwater for up to three months at a time. It will be equipped with an artificial intelligence system, dubbed Lura, which will be able to detect and classify sounds made by nearby ships and submarines faster and with greater accuracy than available alternatives, Helsing said. Gundbert Scherf, co-founder and co-chief executive of Helsing, said the Lura platform would "detect so our navies can deter". Lura would be able to detect the so-called acoustic signatures of vessels up to 40 times faster than human operators, and at volumes 10 times quieter than other AI models, Helsing claimed. The company added a single operator would be able to monitor hundreds of SG-1 Fathom gliders, receiving intelligence at just 10 per cent of the cost of crewed anti-submarine warfare patrols. Helsing plans to deploy the system within the next 12 months. The war in Ukraine has underlined a shift in modern warfare, from the use of traditional hardware such as tanks, guns and munitions, to more technologically sophisticated alternatives, in particular autonomous systems. Western governments have meanwhile been scaling up their underwater reconnaissance capabilities, amid rising attacks on subsea cables and other critical infrastructure on the ocean bed. The UK Royal Navy earlier this year outlined plans to deploy a fleet of both crewed and uncrewed vehicles to provide an anti-submarine warfare capability. Under the programme, known as Project Cabot, the navy will work with defence contractors to use underwater drones to collect acoustic data, which can then be processed using AI to detect potential threats. In a second stage, the Royal Navy plans to conduct surveillance in the Atlantic Ocean using its own vessels, including unmanned naval drones. The programme comes as the UK Ministry of Defence is preparing to publish the results of a strategic defence review led by Lord George Robertson, the former secretary-general of Nato. The review is expected to underline Britain's need for strong defences in the north Atlantic to counter the threat of Moscow's sabotage and surveillance activity. Despite the intensity of the war in Ukraine, Russia has continued to invest in its northern fleet, which has sophisticated underwater capabilities for mapping and disrupting vital infrastructure belonging to Nato allies. A renewed focus in this region would be in line with US requests for the UK military to focus more on the Euro-Atlantic and less on Asia. Helsing, which was founded in 2021 and valued at €4.95bn during its latest funding round last summer, hopes to be one of the private sector beneficiaries. The UK government is also planning to consult technology companies, such as Helsing, as it formulates a new industrial strategy for the defence sector. Helsing is partnering with underwater drone group Blue Ocean Marine Tech Systems, maritime robotics specialist Ocean Infinity and FTSE 250 defence group Qinetiq to deliver Lura and the SG-1 Fathom to customers.

Helsing's AI submarine joins Europe's growing ocean drone fleet

Helsing, Europe's best-funded defence tech startup, has unveiled its latest product -- an autonomous mini-submarine for underwater reconnaissance. Dubbed SG-1 Fathom, the sub is the latest addition to Europe's growing fleet of ocean drones, which aim to better protect the continent's ships and subsea infrastructure from surveillance, sabotage, and attacks. The 1.95-metre Fathom is designed to slowly patrol the ocean for up to three months at a time. The vessel is powered by an AI platform called Lura. The system is a large acoustic model (LAM) -- like a large language model (LLM) but for sound. Lura is able to classify sounds made by ships and submarines and then pinpoint their locations. Helsing said the algorithm can identify sounds at volumes 10 times quieter than competing AI models. It also works at 40 times the speed of an equivalent human operator. Helsing said the "mass-producible" submarines can be deployed in hundreds-strong "constellations" to carry out large-scale surveillance. Ocean reconnaissance of this kind has become increasingly urgent since the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, which exposed the vulnerability of underwater assets to covert attacks. European nations NATO are also stepping up their maritime defences amid growing concerns over Russian aggression. In Ukraine, ocean drones have already become an important tool in its war against Moscow. The war in Ukraine is increasingly characterised by battles between y autonomous systems, mainly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, the battle between machines is also playing out in the seas. Earlier this month, Ukraine used its Magura naval drone to shoot down two Russian aircraft. The Magura, armed with missiles, has been used extensively since 2023 to attack and destroy Russian ships and aircraft. The country is also expanding its fleet of waterborne drones. Last week, Ukrainian company Nordex unveiled the Seawolf, an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) for combat, surveillance, and border security applications. British company Kraken is developing a similar uncrewed boat that can engage enemies in combat or deliver cargo and personnel. Meanwhile, Denmark is set to trial autonomous sailboats to patrol the Baltic Sea looking for signs of potential threats. The adoption of drones at sea comes amid rising geopolitical tensions, which have prompted European officials to go all-in on defence tech. In March 2025, EU leaders endorsed the "ReArm Europe" plan, aiming to mobilise up to £683bn (€800bn) over the next four years to enhance military capabilities. Similarly, the UK government has committed to raising defence spending to 2.5% of GDP and wants to spend at least 10% of its defence budget on "innovative technologies". Helsing looks to capitalise on this political momentum. The company told Bloomberg last month that it has "won over a dozen contracts" with "total order volumes of hundreds of millions of dollars" since its founding in 2021. Helsing, which is valued at €5bn ($5.4bn), is perhaps best known for its combat drones and AI software that acts like the brain for military vehicles such as fighter jets. Fathom marks its first entry into ocean-bound technology. Several naval forces have already shown interest in Helsing's autonomous submarine, the company said. It aims to deploy the first fleets of underwater drones within a year.

German firm unveils underwater spy drone swarm with 3-month endurance

A well-known European firm has unveiled a new system that can reportedly help detect underwater enemy vessels, including submarines, at sea. Helsing's Lura and SG-1 Fathom aim to bolster defenses and redefine maritime surveillance. Lura is an advanced software platform and AI system for persistent underwater surveillance against the growing threats to ships and critical infrastructure. The system uses autonomous mass that is sovereign, scalable, and affordable to detect threats in the subsurface domain. While SG-1 Fathom, a mass-producible underwater glider powered by Lura. It's capable of forming large-scale surveillance constellations of sensors beneath the waves. Helsing claims that based on a large acoustic model, Lura is able to classify and localize acoustic signatures (the sounds made by ships and submarines) with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy. Developed from first principles to rethink maritime surveillance, the Lura software platform's use of a large acoustic model enables it to detect acoustic signatures 10x quieter than other AI models. It can differentiate between specific vessels from within the same class, and at a speed up to 40x faster than human operators, according to the company. The AI system deploys on SG-1 Fathom, a new autonomous underwater glider that can patrol for up to three months at a time in search of underwater threats. The gliders in the drone swarm are robust and discreet, designed for underwater surveillance as they steadily move through the water column, monitoring the breadths and depths of the oceans. Germany-based Helsing revealed that hundreds of SG-1 Fathoms can be deployed for each mission, operating with Lura on the edge to autonomously detect, classify, and report threats at scale and in near real time. The combined drone swarm system creates a constellation of mobile sensors across any body of water - equivalent to satellites in the skies - digitalizing the oceans and redefining maritime surveillance. "Lura detects so our navies can deter. We must harness new technologies to keep pace with the threats against our critical infrastructure, national waters, and way of life," said Dr Gundbert Scherf, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Helsing. "Deploying AI to the edge of underwater constellations will illuminate the oceans and deter our adversaries, for a strong Europe."