SEACURE: A Major European Defence Project Led by Thales to Prepare European Navies for Underwater Warfare

December 19, 2024

-

The world is facing rising tensions in many regions, with asymmetric threats and the resurgence of high-intensity operations, particularly at sea. It is the case near the borders of the European Union, in the Middle East, and the Far East. This highlights how critical it is for nations to control safety at sea and to protect their maritime infrastructures. Moreover, the exploitation of marine resources, including offshore wind farms, demands continuous monitoring to prevent malicious actions by state and non-state adversaries.

Recent events are accelerating plans throughout NATO and European countries to protect maritime infrastructure of national interest. Such plans embrace new operational theatres, and require new capabilities and new methods of operation.

The main objective of SEACURE is to develop and demonstrate at sea, by 2028, an integrated system of systems aimed at successfully performing autonomous joint Anti-Submarine Warfare and Seabed Warfare operations and protecting critical maritime infrastructure. It focuses on the detection, classification, identification and tracking of underwater threats in challenging conditions, using air, surface and underwater drones. SEACURE will offer a versatile defence system for such operations, increasing the level of autonomy, based on open, agile, modular and scalable system-of-systems architecture. In addition, it will be interoperable and ready for collaborative combat.

SEACURE not only strengthens maritime security today, but also lays the groundwork for a more resilient and cooperative global maritime future.

About SEACURE
SEACURE is proposed as a continuation of the EDIDP SEANICE research project that ended in November 2023. It offers a new way of protecting our critical maritime infrastructures, and guarantees the freedom to operate in our own waters, detecting and protecting against any external threats.

The partners are :

• THALES DMS FRANCE SAS
• ALSEAMAR
• ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GMBH
• CEIIA - CENTRO DE ENGENHARIA E DESENVOLVIMENTO (ASSOCIACAO)
• DRASS GALEAZZI SRL
• THALES EDISOFT PORTUGAL S.A
• ESG ELEKTRONIKSYSTEM- UND LOGISTIK GMBH
• ETME PEPPAS & ASSOCIATES SOCIETE ANONYME
• EXAIL ROBOTICS
• FEAC ENGINEERING PRIVATE COMPANY
• FORSVARETS FORSKNINGINSTITUTT (FFI)
• FINCANTIERI SPA
• FINCANTIERI NEXTECH SPA
• I.D.S. INGEGNERIA DEI SISTEMI SPA
• GMVIS SKYSOFT SA
• INNOVATION IN RESEARCH & ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS
• KONGSBERG DISCOVERY AS
• KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HÖGSKOLAN
• LEONARDO - SOCIETA PER AZIONI
• NAVAL GROUP
• NAVANTIA S.A.
• NAXYS TECHNOLOGIES AS
• PATRIA AVIATION OY
• RTSYS
• SAAB KOCKUMS AKTIEBOLAG
• SAAB DYNAMICS AKTIEBOLAG
• SAAB AKTIEBOLAG
• SAIPEM S.P.A
• SCHIEBEL
• SIEL SRL
• SOTIRIA Technology Private Company
• THALES ITALIA SPA
• THALES ROMANIA SRL
• NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNO
• WSENSE SRL

Source : Thales