German defence company Helsing, which specialises in AI technology, has developed an underwater drone that can be deployed to protect ships and critical infrastructure, the Munich-based firm said on Tuesday.

Dubbed SG-1 Fathom, the autonomous underwater glider is capable of patrolling “for up to three months at a time in search of underwater threats”, Helsing said in a statement.

The company also unveiled the Lura software platform and advanced AI system, which is deployed on drones.

It is able to detect and classify sounds made by ships and submarines “with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy’’ thanks to a large acoustic model similar to language models.

“Lura’s use of a large acoustic model enables it to detect acoustic signatures 10x quieter than other AI models, even differentiating between specific vessels from within the same class. It is at a speed up to 40x faster than human operators,’’ Helsing said.

The company also makes the HX-2 kamikaze drone, which is used by Ukraine.

“Lura detects threats so our navies can deter,’’ said co-founder and co-chief executive Grundbert Scherf. We must harness new technologies to keep pace with the threats against our critical infrastructure, national waters, and way of life. Deploying AI to the edge of underwater constellations will illuminate the oceans and deter our adversaries, for a strong Europe.’’

Western countries have been looking for ways to protect pipelines and data cables on the seabed from sabotage, attacks and spying attempts for some time.

(dpa/NAN)