Leonardo has successfully demonstrated autonomous anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability using an Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV) in operationally representative trials in Portsmouth, marking a significant step forward in the Royal Navy’s ambition to develop an advanced hybrid naval force.
Working with UK SME SubSea Craft, Leonardo embedded its Open Digital Platform into SubSea Craft’s MARS USV, enabling the vessel to autonomously detect and investigate sub-surface threats – including submarines and Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles – without requiring human intervention at every decision point.
The trials were organised by the Ministry of Defence under the Atlantic Bastion programme, designed to advance autonomous and hybrid maritime capability for the Royal Navy.
What Was Demonstrated
During both synthetic and live scenarios, the MARS USV conducted ASW missions using Leonardo’s autonomous decision support architecture. When a sensor within the network detected a potential sub-surface threat, the system automatically tasked the most appropriate sensor to investigate further – selecting from across all available systems networked through the Open Digital Platform.
Critically, this process occurred rapidly and without human interaction, reducing cognitive burden on operators while providing commanders with a richer, faster-updated picture of the battlespace across all domains. The architecture is designed not to replace human decision-making, but to compress the time between threat detection and informed response – a capability increasingly valued as the pace and complexity of maritime operations intensifies.
The Technology: Information Advantage
The Open Digital Platform sits within Leonardo’s broader ‘Information Advantage’ offering, which focuses on exploiting data already generated by systems, sensors and effectors already in operational use. Rather than requiring wholesale platform replacement, the approach layers autonomous decision support and network integration onto existing and new assets – a pragmatic fit for a Royal Navy that must balance capability ambition with constrained procurement budgets.
Callum White, Head of Information Advantage Sales at Leonardo, highlighted the strategic importance of the sub-surface domain: “Around 99% of global internet traffic goes through undersea cables, and we rely on gas and oil pipelines to provide essential energy supplies to the UK. It has been a pleasure to partner with SubSea Craft to demonstrate how the Open Digital Platform can reliably network a range of new and existing sensors to detect, track and neutralise sub-surface vessels that pose a threat to the UK’s critical national infrastructure.”
Andrew Sturman, Commercial Director at SubSea Craft, said the demonstration showcased MARS as “a multi-role, modular platform capable of integration with market leading technologies,” adding that “collaborations across the defence industry like this one are critical to supporting the UK and its allies.”
Why This Matters for the Supply Chain
The Atlantic Bastion trials illustrate a procurement model that is becoming increasingly common in UK defence: MoD-organised technology demonstration programmes that bring together primes and SMEs to prove interoperable capability in operationally realistic conditions before formal requirements are set.
For the supply chain, this model carries important implications. Businesses that participate in demonstration programmes – whether as platform providers, sensor suppliers, data integrators or software developers – are well positioned when those demonstrations feed into formal procurement. SubSea Craft’s role in these trials as a UK SME working alongside a major prime is a clear example of how smaller businesses can secure meaningful programme visibility through early engagement.
With autonomous maritime capability, sub-surface surveillance and critical national infrastructure protection all rising up the Royal Navy’s priority list, the appetite for further trials and eventual procurement in this space is significant.
Image: Leonardo
