Larsen & Toubro and France-based Exail have partnered to provide an unmanned mine counter-measure suite for the Indian Navy’s planned fleet of 12 Mine Counter Measure Vessels. The companies will offer autonomous and remotely operated systems designed to detect and neutralise naval mines.
The UK Ministry of Defence has awarded £10 million in contracts to four companies developing autonomous drones designed to support Apache attack helicopters. The drones are intended for reconnaissance, strike support and electronic warfare missions under Project NYX.
Boeing and the U.S. Navy have completed the first test flight of the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aircraft. The two-hour demonstrated autonomous taxi, takeoff, flight, and landing, along with integration with ground control systems as part of carrier preparation.
The UK has tested AI-powered drones to detect landmines and explosive ordnance in trials with British Army units. The system uses sensors and retrainable AI models to identify threats, with further trials planned for operational deployment.
The Royal Navy has received XV Excalibur, the UK’s first extra-large uncrewed submarine, following a series of long-range control demonstrations and a world-first quantum navigation trial. The 12-metre, 19-tonne vessel will undergo two years of sea testing as the UK expands autonomous undersea capabilities under Project Cetus and wider defence initiatives.
The UK has launched Atlantic Bastion, a hybrid undersea warfare programme integrating autonomous systems, AI and traditional naval assets to protect critical infrastructure amid rising Russian submarine activity.
Nokia and Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) have invested €100 million in NestAI as part of a new partnership to develop AI-enabled defence and critical-infrastructure technologies, focusing on unmanned systems and advanced command-and-control capabilities.
