The industrialist, recently released by Australia for the contract for twelve classic submarines, is getting his revenge.
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The page is turned, at least on the industrial level, but Naval Group intends to erase the affront of Australia and the cancellation of the order of submarines for 56 billion euros. For this, the group wants to show that it knows how to move forward through innovation. Innovation “which is at the heart of the Naval Group rebound rocket”, explains its CEO Pierre-Eric Pommelet. Objective of this new kind of submersible: the dronization of naval forces.
For now, this oceanic drone is only at the demonstrator stage. It has passed the simple mock-up phase and is now being tested at life size. Launched in a top secret version two years ago, its first full-scale dives took place in early 2021. It is a bathyscaphe ten meters long which has the shape of a small zucchini, capable of to descend to a depth of 150 meters, it is advancing at a speed of 15 knots (nearly 30 km / h). Controlled remotely, it can remain underwater for several weeks.
Of course, there are already minehunter drones, but this new model will also find its use. The surveillance of strategic submarine ports and cables, the transport of weapons (it can carry up to ten tons of equipment), or finally, carry out missions with conventional submarines. It will be able to support them on delicate operations by allowing submariners to concentrate on essential maneuvers. The development budget has not been released.
Naval Group continues to work on communication and data processing systems but hopes for commercial opportunities no later than 2025. The dronization of naval forces is an important issue in the context of growing geopolitical tensions at the global level. Faced with the surge of competition in the arms industry too. The recent Australian submarine affair is proof of this.