Solutions to detect, identify, counter and protect against mobile manned, unmanned or autonomous underwater systems (including those operating at very high depths)

Topic description

Specific Challenge:

Among the future challenges that underwater warfare solutions will have to tackle there will be:

• at mission management level: the ability for operator(s) to handle and process increasingly complex, multi-source data;
• at mission level: the necessity to optimize conditions of handling assets such as unmanned systems or sensors for safe operations and mission time optimization;
• at systems level: the necessity to optimize at early stage detection, identification, classification and neutralization of underwater manned, unmanned and autonomous systems that are floating, sailing or bottoming subsurface. Different architectures of systems could be proposed with sensors, mission systems management and inter-connections between the different sub-systems of the architecture proposed. These could include usual assets generally employed for these tasks like Maritime Patrol Aircrafts (MPA) with appropriate sensors or could include more innovative solutions including UAV (Unmanned air vehicle) or other assets;
• at unmanned system level: ability to operate in more and more complex conditions (deeper, GPS denied…) and to process data inside the unmanned system in order to increase its autonomy.

The proposals must address the development of next-generation underwater warfare solutions.

These solutions must include both manned and unmanned systems, Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Information (C4I) and mission management systems, sensors, as well as manned-unmanned teaming, and their basing, launching and retrieval, to detect, identify, counter and protect against mobile manned, unmanned or autonomous underwater systems (including those operating at very high depths).

Targeted activities

The proposals must cover at least the design or the prototyping of the solutions, not excluding upstream and downstream activities such as feasibility study and testing in an operational environment.

The targeted activities must in particular include:

• the collection and analysis of end-user’s requirements;
• the definition of operational priorities;
• the definition of performance indicators to evaluate technical solutions versus the end-user’s requirements;
• the design or system prototyping;
• simulations to create realistic scenarios allowing to work on new operational concepts of use for underwater warfare systems and to optimize the sizing and design of the solutions;
• the elaboration of roadmap(s) for further developments.

Main high-level requirements

The proposed solutions should fulfil the following requirements:

1. General

• Should improve and speed up detection, classification and identification of objects especially in most demanding conditions (deep water, turbidity, floating or sub surface…) using, for example, innovative sensors, new methods for machine/deep learning, artificial intelligence and/or UAVs/UUVs and embedded/low energy computing;
• Should include improved or new generation of sensors (radar, MAD (Magnetic anomaly detector), active and passive sonobuoys, optical devices, LIDAR (Light detection and ranging) …) including those embedded on MPAs or UxVs;
• The combat system architecture should be designed so as to decrease the workload of crews, to enable operations with unmanned systems of all kind and to improve the connectivity and the interoperability with the naval forces;
• Should have improved capabilities for neutralization of innovative underwater threats such as unmanned systems, divers, torpedoes, manned systems (including submarines);
• Should have improved capabilities for underwater data (including video and audio) communication with control platform and between unmanned systems;
• Should have improved capabilities for advanced sea floor mapping;
• Should have improved capabilities for easy maintenance and management of unmanned systems energy/data on board control platform and/or USVs or underwater (e.g. underwater docking stations);
• Should have a globally improved mission management system via innovative manned-unmanned man-to-machine interfaces, data visualisation and increased decision autonomy (e.g. use of artificial intelligence);
• Should have an integrated management platform;
• Should have improved stealthiness (e.g. use of embedded dynamic anti-vibration solutions);
• Should implement “cybersecurity by design” principles to develop a system resilient to cyber-attacks (which could lead to data flow disruption and information leakages);
• Should be consistent with relevant NATO standards.

The proposed solutions can be based on a modular concept of manned and unmanned systems.

2. Underwater warfare operations

• Should aim at keeping human out of danger zone (e.g. operations are performed by remotely controlled or autonomous unmanned systems);
• Should remain efficient in GNSS degraded or denied environments including long range navigation;
• Should aim at finding and neutralizing all kinds of underwater threats including the most innovative ones in harsh environments such as great depths, sea states 4 plus, current 3 kts plus;
• Should become more and more autonomous with human tasks limited to supervision and control. The neutralization of threats should remain with a human in the loop (HITL).

3. Global improvement of the mission management system

• Development of innovative Man to Machine Interface (MMI) and data visualisation capabilities, taking into account future underwater mobile threats challenges hence addressing operator management missions (simultaneous roll out of autonomous vehicles air/surface/underwater; planning);
• Development of decision-making support layer, for example based on advanced data analytics and precise predictions, at mission management system level (system functioning assessment; data assessment; de-confliction; water space management; prevention of mutual interference);
• Development of decision-making support layer applicable for unmanned vehicle level (heterogeneous data, extraction/fusion/classification/identification from various sensors) enabling enhanced autonomy and improved security.

4. Docking solution

• Design of a (fix or mobile) docking station enabling data transmission, energy recharging and maintenance operations.

5. New generation of sensors for air assets and architecture

• Improvement of sensors for air assets (UAV or MPA) and architecture should take into account the need for improved performance against quiet submarines or small objects like UUVs. On the other hand, the capability to operate in a discrete way vis-à-vis the threat is of utmost importance and the way to use the sensors or to use the unmanned systems should be studied accordingly.

• Identify and confirm the key technological breakthroughs enabling to tackle future challenges of countering underwater mobile threats;
• Enable globally an enhanced performance of underwater warfare activities;
• Support the development of a competitive and efficient ecosystem able to position a true, consolidated European offer in underwater warfare domain;
• Allow the detection of the submarine threats by modern sensors, with no limitations imposed by a non-European country;
• Prepare the combat system of the next generation of MPAs, with a high level of connectivity to naval assets and unmanned systems.