French Navy Working on Integrating Artificial Intelligence for Submarine Detection

Paris: French Navy is vancing its technological capabilities by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance detection of enemy vessels in increasingly noisy underwater environment. This initiative, led by Navy’s Acoustic Recognition and Interpretation Center (CIRA) in Toulon, is in collaboration with French startup Preligens, as announced by Vincent Magnan, centre’s he, during a recent presentation.  

France aims to test this AI technology onboard its submarines by end of year, with full operational deployment scheduled for 2025. drive towards AI integration is part of a broer strategy to manage exponential growth in data collected by Navy’s vanced passive acoustic sensors.  

Role of AI in Acoustic Analysis  

AI technology developed by Preligens will assist Navy’s acoustics analysts, known as “golden ears,” by filtering out irrelevant noise and highlighting significant signals. This process will enable analysts to focus on high-value tasks, thus improving operational efficiency. initial tests of AI model have shown promising results, with ability to distinguish between hobbyist boats and commercial vessels, identify propeller speeds and propulsion systems, and even determine number of propeller bles.

rise in number and capability of passive acoustic sensors has led to a surge in data, necessitating innovative solutions for efficient analysis. According to Magnan, data collected by CIRA has increased dramatically, from 1 terabyte in 2020 to approximately 10 terabytes in 2024, with projections reaching 100 terabytes or more by 2030.  

“To analyze all this data and extract crucial information for combat operations, we need technological innovations, including artificial intelligence,” Magnan emphasized.  

Operational Integration and Future Prospects  

operational integration of AI is set to transform how data is processed and utilized both at CIRA and onboard submarines. Currently, sifting through 12 days of acoustic data recorded in waters off Toulon requires over 40 working days from two analysts. With AI demonstrator from Preligens, same task can be completed in 4 to 5 hours, followed by an ditional five to six days of human analysis.

“ gain is enormous,” Magnan noted, highlighting potential for AI to streamline operations and enhance decision-making capabilities.  

France’s third-generation ballistic missile submarines are expected to feature even greater sensor capabilities, furr increasing volume of data collected. This expansion necessitates deployment of AI to manage and analyze influx of acoustic information effectively. future vision includes combining AI models with or data sources such as satellite imagery, rar, visual, and electromagnetic information.  

AI Development and Deployment  

AI project at CIRA began in 2021, following discussions between Magnan and Preligens executives. French military intelligence h alrey been using Preligens’ AI products for satellite imagery analysis, paving way for similar applications in underwater acoustics.  

Julian Le Deunf, an expert at Armed Forces Ministry’s newly created AI in Defense agency, announced that a tool for automatic detection and identification of various acoustic sources would be demonstrated at Viva Technology show in Paris next week.  

“ promising results encourage us to test se capabilities in real-life conditions on submarines by end of year,” Le Deunf stated, underlining goal to integrate AI model directly behind an audio stream from a sensor.