Thales and Kongsberg Maritime Partner on Type 92 Anti-Submarine USV

Thales UK has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kongsberg Maritime to develop an anti-submarine warfare solution for the Royal Navy’s Type 92 requirement. The partnership combines Thales’ underwater sensing, tactical planning and secure communications technology with Kongsberg Maritime’s Arctic Hunter uncrewed surface vessel. The companies aim to offer a rapidly deployable capability to support the Royal Navy’s move toward a hybrid fleet of crewed and uncrewed ships.

 

The Agreement

 

The MoU formalizes cooperation announced days earlier, when Kongsberg Maritime unveiled Arctic Hunter ahead of the Atlantic Future Forum in Oslo. Under the agreement, the two companies will work together on an integrated anti-submarine warfare solution built around the Arctic Hunter platform. Kongsberg Maritime will contribute the vessel and its autonomous technology, while Thales will provide the mission systems. Combined with UK shipbuilding, the partners say this brings together the core elements of a complete solution.

The proposal is a bid for a future program rather than a contract. Arctic Hunter is not yet in build, and the Royal Navy has not awarded a Type 92 production contract. The MoU positions the Thales and Kongsberg team as a contender when the requirement moves to procurement. Defense analysts expect competition from other industrial teams also targeting the Royal Navy’s hybrid fleet.

 

What Thales Brings

 

Thales is the Royal Navy’s established supplier of anti-submarine sonar for surface ships, including the Type 23 frigates and the new Type 26 frigates. For the Type 92 proposal, it brings underwater sensing, acoustic modeling, tactical planning and secure military communications. Its systems will also use artificial intelligence developed by cortAIx, Thales’ AI accelerator, to help analyze sensor data. This can help operators find and classify contacts more quickly in a complex underwater environment.

Thales UK Chief Executive Phil Siveter said the cooperation brings together complementary strengths to deliver a connected and adaptable anti-submarine solution. He said the future hybrid navy will be defined by how well platforms are connected, how they share information and how quickly they turn it into operational advantage. Siveter added that Thales’ sensing, planning and communications expertise will be critical to making that vision a reality. He also said the agreement reinforces the UK and Norway’s shared commitment to security across the North Atlantic.

 

The Arctic Hunter Platform

 

Arctic Hunter is a 56-meter uncrewed vessel adapted from a proven Kongsberg Maritime Arctic commercial design. It is intended to operate from a forward base inside the Arctic Circle on missions of up to 60 days. Kongsberg’s uncrewed vessel technology has received flag-state approval from DNV and the Norwegian Maritime Authority for commercial use. If selected, Balaena Maritime would build the vessels at Birkenhead, with military systems added afterward.

Using a commercial hull and commercial shipbuilding is meant to speed up delivery and reduce cost. Kongsberg says the vessels could be ready for militarisation and deployment before 2030. Large deck space and payload capacity would allow other mission systems to be added over the vessel’s life. That flexibility matters in anti-submarine warfare, where sensors and threats evolve quickly.

 

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Type 92 and the Hybrid Navy

 

Type 92 forms part of the Royal Navy’s planned hybrid fleet, which envisages several classes of uncrewed vessels working alongside crewed warships. According to Janes, the force model includes uncrewed missile platforms, underwater sensing platforms, extra-large uncrewed underwater vessels and uncrewed radar platforms. Type 92 has been described as an uncrewed anti-submarine “sloop”. It is central to the Atlantic Bastion concept for protecting the UK’s nuclear deterrent and critical undersea infrastructure in the North Atlantic and High North.

Uncrewed vessels can provide persistent sensor coverage over wide areas at lower cost than crewed frigates. Connecting them into a single network with crewed ships, aircraft and submarines is the main challenge, which is why integration features so prominently in the Thales proposal. Thales stresses that the hybrid navy depends on linking sensors, systems and platforms into a coherent whole. The Type 92 competition will test how well industry can deliver that integration.

 

UK–Norway Cooperation

 

The partnership strengthens defense and industrial cooperation between the UK and Norway, which share responsibility for security on NATO’s northern flank. It supports the Lunna House agreement, under which the two countries aim to lead NATO’s adoption of autonomous systems in the High North. The countries already cooperate closely on monitoring submarine activity in the North Atlantic. A joint industrial solution could reinforce that operational relationship.

The UK build element is likely to strengthen the proposal politically, given the government’s emphasis on domestic shipbuilding and jobs. Combining a Norwegian platform, UK-built hulls and UK sonar gives the bid both allied credibility and local industrial content. Its success will depend on Royal Navy requirements, budgets and timelines for the Type 92 program. Further details are expected as the requirement moves closer to a formal competition.