Royal Navy: "Secret weapon" being developed to hunt Russian submarines and protect British waters, report says

AI sensory technology that was originally used to track whales is set to be installed on underwater drones tasked with patrolling British waters. As reported in The Times, it’s hoped a recent technological advancement can be used by Royal Navy technicians to “illuminate” the oceans and make it easier to hunt submarines.

Autonomous mini-hunter submarines could use artificial intelligence to identify sounds and movements under the ocean. The Lura system, developed by European defence company Helsing, can tell the difference between two ships of the same class by analysing acoustic waves. This would allow personnel to be freed from trawling through the data, speeding up reaction time so capabilities can be deployed faster.

HMS Tyne with Russian Kilo-class submarine Krasnodar in the background. | Royal Navy / SWNS

It can be used to identify submarines, tankers, passenger vessels and vessels belonging to the Russian shadow fleet. Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of Helsing, told The Times: “We must harness new technologies to keep pace with the threats against our critical infrastructure, national waters and way of life.”

Autonomous Royal Navy trials

The Royal Navy has been consistently investing in autonomous technology and testing various types of equipment. Surface vessels which can sail by themselves have been trialled, and a new team has been formed to trial the latest autonomous military capabilities.

The new Disruptive Capabilities and Technologies Office (DCTO) will include specialists from NavyX, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, and the Navy AI cell, will make up the new formation. XV Patrick Blackett, an experimental ship based at Portsmouth Naval Base, will be used as a hotbed for various tests.

Rear Admiral James Parkin, the Royal Navy’s Director Develop, previously said: “This innovation will ensure that the Royal Navy will be better positioned to work with other areas in Defence, and our allies and partners, to learn the lessons from modern conflict, and ensure we introduce cutting edge capabilities into the front line at the speed of relevance.

“In this way the Royal Navy will harness the best of today’s technology in order to disrupt faster than our adversaries and remain ready to fight and win on day one of any future conflict.”

The UK is responding to threats from Russia, which include vessels targeting undersea infrastructure cables and undersea vessels monitoring British waters.