- Helsing acquire Blue Ocean, an autonomous systems builder
- The strategic decision was made to scale and accelerate its autonomous systems
- Headquartered in Germany, Helsing emphasise European sovereignty while American suppliers work to form ties through strategic partnerships
Helsing, a German defence company and a leading European supplier, has acquired Blue Ocean, an autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) builder with a presence in Australia and the UK.
This strategic decision, the company detailed in an 8 October 2025 release, is intended to speed up the development and mass production of autonomous platforms for the protection of the underwater battlespace.
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It comes several months after Helsing unveiled its SG-1 Fathom underwater glider and the Lura large acoustic model, which identifies and classifies enemy acoustic signatures (sounds made by ships and submarines). Just four months ago, Helsing also announced it is building a new ‘resilience factory’ in Plymouth as part of a £350m ($469.4m) investment in the UK.
Helsing initially worked to scale Fathom and Lura through a consortium of UK companies including Blue Ocean, QinetiQ, and Ocean Infinity as the product matures.
Effects focus
“The need for a smart autonomous mass-approach is clear,” stated Amanda Gould, managing director of maritime capability at Helsing, referring to the rise of a multiple effects approach to the opaque domain.
Big costly platforms are no longer in vogue, some industry players observed, rather the primary concern for cash-strapped navies will be the ability to rapidly deliver a particular capability in a disaggregated and close-knit network.
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By GlobalDataUnderwater surveillance has become a priority for several Northern European navies operating in the North Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea. Norway announced that it will purchase British Type 26 frigates – the exact same configuration as the UK – as the two jointly conduct anti submarine warfare (ASW) missions in the North Atlantic. In the East, Nato allies deter Russian efforts to sabotage seabed cables through Baltic Sentry and the deployment of AUVs in the Baltic.
European sovereignty
In their message, Helsing insist on building sovereign capabilities within Europe and Australia.
European institutions are particularly concerned about their defence competitiveness, prompting the European Union to issue its inaugural defence industrial strategy in April 2024. Among other objectives, member states aim to ensure that, by 2030, the value of intra-EU defence trade represents at least 35% of the value of the EU defence market.
Meanwhile, American defence companies are looking to seep into the European defence market through strategic partnerships. Anduril, for example, has formed ties with the UK company Ultra Maritime, equipping the Dive XLAUV with Ultra’s Sea Spear sonar sensing array.
