Exail Sets Sail Towards Revolutionary Deepwater AUV for the French Navy’s Future Defense Landscape
The French defense procurement agency (DGA) is poised to provide the French Navy with its first sovereign ultradeep-sea exploration and monitoring capability, having chosen Exail, a world leader in robotics, to supply a new AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) adept at functioning at depths of up to 6,000 meters.
Ensuring oversight of the ocean floor, as outlined in the France 2030 investment strategy, has become a crucial challenge for French defense, especially to maintain national sovereignty and operational independence, while also protecting its strategic and economic interests. This initiative consists of three key components: “to comprehend,” “to observe,” and “to intervene.” In line with the capability enhancement framework established in the Ministerial Strategy for Seabed Warfare approved in 2022, the French Navy will bolster its exploration and intervention capabilities to a depth of 6,000 meters by acquiring underwater drones (AUVs) targeting the first two components and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for the latter.
Exail has been selected to provide this state-of-the-art AUV, engineered to operate at depths of up to 6,000 meters. This groundbreaking underwater drone is built on the foundation of Ulyx, the AUV co-developed by Exail and Ifremer (French National Institute for Ocean Science and Technology). The latter achieved its initial dives to 6,000 meters in the fall of 2023. Leveraging the technology already established for Ulyx, this AUV showcases dual-use technology meticulously adapted to the specific needs of the French Navy. It will conduct reconnaissance and surveillance missions on the ocean floor while also monitoring vital underwater infrastructure such as submarine cables.
“We are honored to have been chosen by the French government to design this groundbreaking 6000-meter AUV, which will enable the French Navy to implement the strategy articulated by the Ministry of the Armed Forces. We take great pride in this recognition of our technological prowess in seabed warfare and our contribution to bolstering national sovereignty,” remarked Jérome Bendell, Managing Director of Exail’s Maritime Systems Division.
The AUV, reflecting over 40 years of Exail’s expertise in deep-sea technology, will encompass a range of components engineered and manufactured by Exail, including a Phins inertial navigation system and sophisticated acoustic sensors, while also being versatile enough to integrate sensors from other manufacturers to customize the system for particular missions. The A6K-M AUV represents the launch of Exail’s A6K deep-sea AUV series.
