The naval shipbuilder Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems and its subsidiary Atlas Elektronik are strengthening their commitment in the field of artificial intelligence for maritime defense and are taking a leading role in a new research project.
TKMS has now announced that Atlas Elektronik will act as consortium leader in the “GhostPlay@SEA” project.
The aim is to contribute its expertise from the maritime sector to the development of tactical artificial intelligence (AI) in the maritime defense industry. GhostPlay@SEA is a project funded by the Bundeswehr technology program dtec.bw, which builds on the results of the original GhostPlay project. This created a so-called “Defense Metaverse”, a simulation environment for AI-based combat simulations on land and in the air. And this vision is now to be expanded to include the maritime dimension.
The aim of the project is reportedly to research AI-supported methods in order to develop and evaluate new and proven tactical behavior patterns and decision-making processes for naval warfare. In addition, the transfer of virtually trained tactics into real hardware will be researched and piloted.
Jeronimo Dzaack, Co-Head of Future Tech, explained: “GhostPlay@SEA is set to fundamentally change the way future naval operations are planned and executed, and further enhance 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.”
By using state-of-the-art AI and simulation technologies, future threat scenarios – from drone swarms to autonomous submarines – can be simulated in advance in a risk-free virtual environment. “This makes it possible to test and optimize tactical concepts at an early stage, even before real systems are deployed. The knowledge gained in this way flows directly into the development of new maritime defense technologies,” continues Dzaack.
The consortium includes players from science and industry, the Helmut Schmidt University of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg, Hensoldt, 21Strategies, Rheinmetall and Borchert Research Consulting.
