The first two parts of this series looked at sensor opportunities created by supply constraints and changing battlefield requirements. In this part, we will talk about maritime unmanned systems. We will look into how Europe has been increasingly moving its established capabilities in sonar, radar, acoustic sensing and naval electronics from frigates, submarines, and other traditional large vessels onto USVs (Unmanned Surface Vessels) and UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vessels).
We will also look into the different opportunities such a trend creates for suppliers. As the technologies often already exist, the design-in challenge is about making subsystems and components smaller, lower-power, more autonomous and easier to integrate across platforms deployed in much larger numbers.
Ukraine provides the most battle-proven reference for surface unmanned systems, where strike platforms are already evolving towards reconnaissance and multi-mission roles. In Europe, the more mature market is currently below the surface, where autonomous systems are entering mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and critical-infrastructure surveillance.
Surface USVs: From Strike Platforms to Sensor Nodes
Ukraine provides the clearest operational reference for how surface unmanned systems evolve once the platform itself is proven. USVs initially developed primarily around strike missions are increasingly taking on reconnaissance, surveillance and other roles. Recent Magura configurations combine elevated electro-optical systems with a navigation radar, while other variants have been tested as carriers for interceptor drones. In August 2026, Ukrainian Barracuda USVs were themselves attacked by jet-powered Geran-4 UAVs during a coastal operation, adding further pressure around situational awareness and platform survivability.
A similar broadening of the USV role is beginning to appear in European procurement. In August 2026, STARK delivered the first Seetaube USV to the German Armed Forces' Cyber and Information Domain Service. Equipped with cameras, sensors and radar, it is designed to operate as a mobile maritime observation point, provide reconnaissance data and help locate hostile signal sources while following autonomous pre-programmed routes.
France’s June 2026 naval-drone programme adds a larger procurement roadmap: endurance USVs are planned for the 2027 phase, followed by DANAÉ and command-and-control systems in 2028.
For sensor suppliers, this creates additional integration points around compact maritime radar, EO/IR, passive RF and other surveillance technologies. These systems need to fit smaller power, weight and cost envelopes than conventional naval platforms while supporting greater onboard processing and autonomy. As European programmes move towards procurement, suppliers need to position compact radar, EO/IR and RF technologies early enough to influence platform design, rather than compete only on sensor performance.
Mine Warfare: The Most Mature European Unmanned Sensor Market
Mine warfare is currently the clearest European example of naval sensing moving from specialised crewed platforms onto unmanned systems at scale. The Belgian-Dutch rMCM programme combines 12 mine-countermeasure vessels with around 120 unmanned systems, including USVs, AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) carrying synthetic-aperture sonar and other mine-detection payloads. The first robotic mine-warfare toolbox was delivered in 2026, with integration and qualification now focused on making the different vehicles, sensors and mission systems work as one architecture.
The same model is developing elsewhere in Europe. France's SLAM-F programme combines USVs, AUVs, towed sonar and identification systems for stand-off mine warfare, while the Royal Navy is building its future mine-hunting capability around USVs, UUVs and interchangeable sensing and neutralisation payloads. These programmes are moving unmanned sensing beyond experimentation and into missions previously performed by dedicated minehunters.
Mine warfare is one of the most mature but also incumbent-dominated markets within European naval autonomy. For new suppliers, opportunities may lie less in replacing established sonar systems and more in specialised sensing, onboard processing and interoperability. The Belgian-Dutch programme's current integration phase illustrates the importance of these capabilities.
ASW: Established Sensors Are Moving onto New Platforms
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is beginning to create a different type of design-in opportunity. In August 2026, the Dutch Ministry of Defence commissioned development of a 12-metre USV carrying an adapted Thales FLASH dipping sonar to operate alongside its future ASW frigates. The concept allows acoustic sensing to be distributed away from the frigate itself, extending the search area while allowing the crewed platform to remain more protected.
At a broader level, the Royal Navy's Atlantic Bastion programme is developing a distributed anti-submarine warfare architecture for the North Atlantic, connecting Type 26 frigates, aircraft, unmanned surface and underwater vessels through AI-supported acoustic sensing and integrated command systems. Its Atlantic Net initiative has already evaluated seabed acoustic sensors, USVs carrying towed arrays, underwater gliders, acoustic floats and sonobuoy-equipped drones. The programme illustrates how autonomous naval sensing is evolving from individual platforms towards interconnected surveillance networks.
For suppliers, the significance is that the sensor technology itself is already mature. FLASH was developed for helicopter-based ASW; the new requirement is to adapt an established capability to a smaller autonomous platform with different power, weight, integration and operating constraints. Similar logic is visible in the development of compact variable-depth and other acoustic systems designed specifically for smaller vessels and USVs.
This makes distributed ASW a potentially high-value design-in market for European sonar and naval-electronics suppliers. As navies add unmanned platforms around existing frigates, the opportunity is increasingly in adapting proven acoustic sensing to platforms that can be deployed more widely, operate with greater autonomy and expand the sensing footprint of the wider force.
Distributed ASW creates opportunities for established sonar manufacturers to adapt proven systems to autonomous platforms. For smaller suppliers, entry points may emerge in acoustic processing, autonomous navigation and cross-platform integration. However, programmes such as Atlantic Bastion remain in evaluation, making early technical engagement more realistic than immediate production orders.
Underwater Autonomy: Navigation Is Part of the Sensor Market
Underwater autonomy creates a broader sensing requirement than mission payloads alone. GNSS signals do not penetrate water, while acoustic positioning can be constrained by range and the need for supporting infrastructure. The EU's European Defence Fund requirements for underwater warfare explicitly call for autonomous underwater navigation with poor or no positioning aid, alongside miniaturised and pressure-tolerant sensing for UUVs.
This makes inertial navigation, Doppler velocity logs (DVLs), acoustic positioning and obstacle detection essential technologies across a wide range of underwater missions. Exail, for example, has developed compact inertial navigation systems specifically for AUVs, while its A18-M combines autonomous navigation with multi-sensor operation and onboard processing for mine-countermeasure missions. Forward-looking sonar can add another layer by providing underwater terrain mapping and obstacle warnings directly to autonomous control systems, as illustrated by Sonardyne's Vigilant.
Navigation and obstacle sensing offer suppliers access to multiple underwater applications, from mine warfare to infrastructure surveillance and ASW support. However, securing a design-in depends not only on sensor performance, but also on power consumption, navigation accuracy, qualification requirements and compatibility with the platform's autonomy architecture.
Tier-1 and Tier-2 Supplier Opportunities
For Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers, the opportunity lies largely in adapting established sensor technologies to a rapidly expanding class of unmanned platforms. Sonar, inertial and acoustic navigation, maritime radar, EO/IR, passive RF and obstacle sensing increasingly need to operate within tighter power and footprint constraints, with greater autonomy and easier integration into modular mission architectures.
For established European maritime-electronics companies, adapting proven technologies from frigates and commercial vessels to USVs and UUVs creates a relatively direct design-in opportunity. For new entrants, access is more selective and depends on integration partnerships, qualification requirements and the timing of sensor selection. Atlantic Bastion's 26 industry proposals illustrate emerging openings for specialist suppliers, although early engagement does not guarantee production contracts.
The procurement approach is also evolving. Atlantic Bastion attracted 26 industry proposals from the UK and Europe, with £14 million in combined government and industry funding committed to early development and testing by December 2025. The Royal Navy has involved both established defence contractors and smaller technology companies in evaluating autonomous sensing solutions. This creates opportunities for specialist suppliers to enter emerging naval programmes through integration partnerships, rather than exclusively through established shipbuilding supply chains.
Demand is also accelerating through multinational initiatives. In July 2026, NATO’s Task Force X-Baltic moved towards national procurement and deployment of unmanned maritime surveillance systems, while the EU designated Integrated Maritime and Seabed Defence (IMSD) a Project of Common Interest in September. Both reinforce demand for persistent sensing, onboard processing and interoperable sensor systems.
| PRIORITY | SENSOR AREA | CURRENT MARKET DRIVER | SUPPLIER OPPORTUNITY | MARKET MATURITY & SUPPLIER ACCESSIBILITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mine-warfare sonar and underwater sensing | Belgium-Netherlands, France and the UK are moving mine countermeasures from crewed minehunters towards USVs, AUVs and towed systems | Synthetic-aperture sonar, mine-identification sensing, acoustic positioning and modular underwater payloads | Mature, incumbent-dominated; selective entry points |
| 2 | ASW sensing on unmanned platforms | Dutch FLASH-sonar USV and Royal Navy Atlantic Bastion trials distribute acoustic sensing across autonomous platforms | Adapt compact sonar and acoustic arrays; integrate processing and outputs across platforms | Emerging; attractive but qualification-intensive |
| 3 | Underwater navigation and obstacle sensing | UUVs must operate without continuous GNSS and with constrained communications | INS/IMUs, acoustic positioning, forward-looking sonar, seabed perception and sensor fusion | Cross-programme demand; platform-specific qualification |
| 4 | Surface ISR: radar, EO/IR and passive RF | Ukrainian USVs are expanding from strike into reconnaissance and multi-mission roles, while European systems such as Seetaube are being procured as mobile sensing nodes | Compact maritime radar, EO/IR, ESM/passive RF and low-power surveillance sensors | Growing procurement activity; multiple potential design-in points |
| 5 | Critical-undersea-infrastructure and persistent surveillance sensing | Baltic and Arctic security requirements are pushing NATO towards distributed surface and subsurface sensor networks | Persistent acoustic and other monitoring sensors, low-power electronics and interoperable interfaces | Emerging requirements; procurement pathways still developing |
| 6 | Onboard processing and sensor fusion | Distributed autonomous platforms are generating much larger quantities of sonar, radar and EO data | Edge processing, detection/classification, sensor fusion and integration into C2 | Cross-cutting opportunity; integration access is critical |
Closure
Across the three parts of this analysis, the supplier opportunities emerge for different reasons: capacity and localisation in IR and EO, changing battlefield requirements in counter-UAS, interceptors and UGVs, and the redistribution of established sensing technologies across naval unmanned platforms.
For Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers, the common question is where the existing sensing stack is becoming a constraint on the next platform iteration, and whether an established technology can solve that problem at the cost, scale and integration speed the market now requires.