Thales brings world-leading AI-enhanced underwater sensing, tactical planning, and secure communications expertise to a proposed next-generation ASW solution for the Royal Navy. The UK–Norwegian collaboration will support maritime security and deterrence in the North Atlantic and High North, in line with evolving underwater threats.

This proposed solution combines Thales’ advanced ASW expertise with Kongsberg Maritime’s Arctic Hunter USV to create a credible, rapidly deployable ASW solution, aligned with the Royal Navy’s Hybrid Navy ambitions and the growing requirement to detect, deter, and defend across the North Atlantic.

The Royal Navy’s move toward a Hybrid Navy generates needs to connect sensors, systems, and assets into a coherent fighting solution, and one which is capable of detecting, tracking, and responding to threats across an increasingly complex underwater theatre.

Thales is a key enabler of this transformation, bringing decades of expertise in underwater warfare, advanced sonar technology as used on the Royal Navy T23 and T26 frigates, acoustic modeling, tactical planning, and secure military communications, with AI-assisted exploitation developed by cortAix, Thales’ AI accelerator.

Kongsberg Maritime will contribute its Arctic Hunter USV, providing an established autonomous platform around which an integrated ASW solution can be developed.

Combined with UK platform build, the cooperation brings together the essential elements of an end-to-end ASW solution: autonomous platforms, advanced underwater sensing, tactical intelligence, and secure connectivity.

This partnership reinforces the UK–Norwegian defense and industrial cooperation. By combining their expertise, Thales and Kongsberg Maritime aim to help address shared security challenges in the North Atlantic and High North, while supporting NATO’s maritime security and deterrence across its northern flank.

“This cooperation is about bringing together complementary strengths to deliver a connected, adaptable and effective Anti-Submarine Warfare solution, while reinforcing the UK and Norway’s shared commitment to security and deterrence across the North Atlantic. 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,” said Phil Siveter, CEO of Thales UK.