The Parisian marine armaments show takes place under the banner of drones and robots that work together, find the enemy and decide how to attack him. Italy in the foreground with Leonardo and Gem Elettronica
At the Euronaval 2026 show, taking place this week in Paris, the domestic giant Naval Group presented its vision of future naval fleets: high intensity operations transform the needs of navies by questioning both the structure of the fleets and the technological capabilities of naval units, with extensive and rapid development of unmanned units capable of carrying out multi-domain attacks, “saturation” attacks, i.e. to completely occupy enemy defenses at the same time, launch ballistic missiles hypersonic, drone swarms and trigger simultaneous actions.
Fundamental, in this framework, is the development of operational methods based on artificial intelligence and the integration of conventional systems, with remote sensors or effectors to extend their range of action and the integration of innovations that combine different technologies: artificial intelligence and data analysis, information superiority guaranteed by radar and sonar, cyber capabilities and the principle of fleet hybridization.
Drones, whether surface or submarine, have become essential for the support of conventional naval units and as tomorrow’s conflicts will be characterized by an intensive use of unmanned and from a notable connectivity, studies are focusing on the creation of fleets for the deployment and removal of mines and anti-submarine warfare.
The new technologies of Naval Group and Leonardo
For these reasons, Naval Group has created a conceptual ship, called Scx-26, designed to integrate responses to new operational requirements, learn the lessons learned from recent conflicts and absorb medium-long term technological developments. The project is designed to act as the operational hub of a hybrid fleet, thanks to the ability to rapidly deploy different types of drones to carry out various missions with the possibility of adapting their configuration to mission requirements throughout the operational life cycle.
Also at the French event, our Leonardo presented the new generation Combat Management Systems (Cms) Sadoc 5 and Athena L, the latter developed through the subsidiary Gem Elettronica. The first is intended to also be installed on future Ddx destroyers of the Navy and is proposed as a new national reference for the latest generation command and control systems.
Among the main innovations, an architecture designed to be flexible and scalable, equipped with artificial intelligence that analyses, identifies, “learns” and targets emerging threats. In particular, in integrated air defense scenarios, Sadoc 5 is designed to optimize performance and reduce reaction times of combat systems and to interact with a complex system such as that of the Michelangelo shield project.
Through its subsidiary Gem Elettronica, Leonardo has also developed the Athena L system intended for naval platforms that require a light combat system that allows the processing and display of a tactical picture integrated into a navigation suite with certified cartography and data processed by radar and navigation sensors, helping to improve situational awareness and operational effectiveness.
The new naval wars (without men)
It is therefore now clear that all over the world the aim is to organize naval forces with unmanned systems: in Australia, a nation that is faced with a situation resulting from being surrounded by oceans, the autonomous surface vehicle (USC) Bluebottle produced by Ocius Technology is entering which patrols large distances in conversation with large autonomous submarines of the Ghost Shark and Speartooth types. Together they hunt potentially enemy submarines such as Chinese and North Korean ones.
The creation of these systems takes place in the new Ocius factory in Sydney, a facility that includes a global operations center active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to monitor Bluebottles sailing in the world’s oceans.
The head of the Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Matt Buckleyregarding the Bluebottle stated: «Our platforms must continue to evolve. The development of modular and interchangeable payloads, which can be integrated onto unmanned vehicles such as the Ghost Shark, the Speartooth or the Bluebottle, offers us enormous flexibility, allowing us to adapt such systems to future missions and needs.”
