La Marine française travaille sur l’intégration de l’intelligence artificielle pour la détection des sous-marins

The French Navy is making significant strides in advancing its technological capabilities with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the detection of enemy vessels in the underwater environment. This groundbreaking initiative, led by the Navy’s Acoustic Recognition and Interpretation Center (CIRA) in Toulon, in collaboration with the French startup Preligens, aims to revolutionize the way data is processed and utilized.

Vincent Magnan, the head of the center, announced the partnership with Preligens during a recent presentation, highlighting the plan to test the AI technology onboard submarines by the end of the year, with full operational deployment scheduled for 2025. The AI technology developed by Preligens will assist the Navy’s acoustics analysts by filtering out irrelevant noise and highlighting significant signals, thus improving operational efficiency.

The exponential growth in data collected by the Navy’s advanced passive acoustic sensors has necessitated innovative solutions for efficient analysis. Magnan emphasized the need for technological innovations, including AI, to extract crucial information for combat operations from the increasing volume of data.

The future prospects include the operational integration of AI to manage and analyze the influx of acoustic information effectively, especially with the expected increase in sensor capabilities in France’s third-generation ballistic missile submarines. The vision also includes combining AI models with other data sources for comprehensive analysis.

The AI project at CIRA, initiated in 2021, is set to transform how data is processed and utilized, with promising results encouraging further development and deployment in real-life conditions on submarines. The French Navy is on the path to revolutionizing underwater warfare with the incorporation of AI technology.