Atlas Elektonik to lead AI maritime defence project

Atlas Elektonik, the marine electronics division of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), is to become consortium leader in the GhostPlay@SEA research project. This is an extension of the original GhostPlay project which created a ‘Defense Metaverse’ to simulate AI-based combat situations on land and in the air. At that stage, however, there was no maritime dimension.

The aim of the new project is to explore AI-supported methods to develop and evaluate behaviour patterns and decision-making processes for naval warfare. The transfer of virtually trained tactics to real hardware will also be researched and piloted.

The project underlines the innovative strength of the German defence industry in the age of digitalisation. By using state-of-the-art AI and simulation technologies, future threat scenarios – from drone swarms to autonomous submarines – can be simulated in advance within a risk-free virtual environment.

Dr Jeronimo Dzaack, co-head of Future Tech at Atlas Elektronik, commented: “GhostPlay@SEA aims to fundamentally change the way future naval operations are planned and conducted and to further expand the technological leadership of all partners involved. In the virtual environment, highly complex combat situations can be realistically simulated, and optimal tactics can be safely tested.”