26 proposals assessed in Atlantic NET undersea programme

Helsings SG1 Fathom sea glider seems to be the front runner for first deployment.

In the context of the Atlantic NET programme, “26 compliant industry proposed solutions” 26 distinct bids or service models successfully met all the mandatory Ministry of Defence (MoD) requirements for the first phase of the project.

The proposals are compliant and adhered to every legal, technical, and security standard specified in the Invitation to Tender (ITT). This includes following the “spirit” of the Procurement Act 2023 and meeting specific national security criteria.

These solutions came from private companies—largely UK-based or with UK elements—rather than being developed internally by the Royal Navy.

Instead of just offering a piece of equipment (like a single drone), these companies proposed entire service models. Under the COCONO (Contractor Owned, Contractor Operated, Naval Oversight) model, Industry partners will be responsible for
Deploying uncrewed surface or underwater systems.
Collecting and triaging acoustic data using AI/ML.
Delivering processed intelligence directly to the Maritime Operational Commander.

Out of 327 companies that engaged with the MoD during the initial six-month market engagement, only 26 were able to translate their capabilities into a fully compliant, formal proposal. These 26 solutions represent the “shortlist” from which the MoD will now select its Commercial Mission Partners.

While the specific list of all 26 proposals is not public due to commercial and national security sensitivities, high-profile aerospace and defence companies have been identified as key contributors to the Atlantic NET programme.

The listed companies below and their technologies represent the type of “compliant solutions” the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is currently assessing, notable industry solutions include –

Anduril UK propose Seabed Sentry, a seabed-based sensing network designed for persistent surveillance using distributed autonomous nodes rather than a single
vessel.

BAE Systems (with Cellula Robotics) showcased the Herne XLUUV (Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vessel). It is a modular, long-endurance platform designed for intelligence, surveillance, and seabed monitoring missions.

Helsing (with Qinetiq & Ocean Infinity) unveiled the SG-1 Fathom, an autonomous underwater glider enabled by a large acoustic AI model called Lura to detect and differentiate submarine noise.

Ultra Maritime working in partnership with Anduril intend to integrate the Sea Spear acoustic array with uncrewed platforms for enhanced detection capabilities.

The MoD intends to select one or more Commercial Mission Partners from this pool –

Lot 1: Successful bidders will receive “call-off” contracts for specific milestones and service delivery.
Lot 2: A “potential supplier pool” (limited to 10 companies) will be maintained for those who were not selected as primary partners but have technologies of interest for future phases.

How the COCONO Model Works –
Under the Contractor Owned, Contractor Operated, Naval Oversight model, the Royal Navy doesn’t buy the “drone”—they buy the “data stream.”

Contractor Owned & Operated companies like Anduril or BAE Systems are responsible for launching, maintaining, and recovering the uncrewed systems. If a vehicle breaks, it’s the company’s cost, not the taxpayer’s.

Naval Oversight the Royal Navy’s Remote Operations Centre (ROC) at HMNB Clyde acts as the “brain.” While contractors manage the hardware, the Navy controls the mission parameters and retains final say over the intelligence and sensor data.

AI Integration, a major part of these 26 solutions involves Edge Processing. Because you can’t send massive amounts of data through water easily, systems like Helsing’s Lura AI process the sounds locally and only send an alert when they hear a “target of interest” (like a submarine).

As the MoD moves toward Atlantic Bastion, (which is the deployment phase) they expect to have the first “compliant solutions” delivering live sensor data in the North Atlantic by late 2026.

Active Funding, as of late 2025, £14 million in seedcorn funding has already been committed to testing and development.
Private Investment: Industry has matched public funding at a 4:1 ratio, with approximately £0.5 billion in private R&D already spent on technology demonstrators.
There is an operational urgency as the programme is a direct response to modernised Russian submarine activity near UK undersea cables and pipelines.

The industry vs. government split.
To make the data stream affordable, the MoD is leveraging significant private investment. For every £1 of government money spent, industry partners (like BAE and Anduril) have reportedly spent nearly £4 of their own R&D funds. This effectively subsidises the “ongoing” cost for the taxpayer because the companies are bearing the development and hardware maintenance risks.

The ongoing “Service” costs as this is a COCONO model, the Navy isn’t paying a flat fee for a boat. Instead, they pay for “Persistent Sense” as an operational expense. While exact “per-terabyte” or “per-day” costs are commercially sensitive, the budget is designed to be flexible—allowing the Navy to “turn on” or “turn off” sensor areas based on the current threat level from Russian submarine activity.

… “ALLOWING THE NAVY TO “TURN ON” OR “TURN OFF” SENSOR AREAS BASED ON THE CURRENT THREAT LEVEL FROM RUSSIAN SUBMARINE ACTIVITY.” Oh fsck that seems like a future cost cutting jolly!

However, the government has classified this as a Strategic Defence Review (SDR) priority. The transition to the COCONO service model is designed specifically to avoid the “pie in the sky” trap by letting companies take the hardware risk while the Navy just pays for the intelligence outputs.

Will Atlantic Bastion suffer from operational flexibility and budgetary vulnerability.
In MoD-speak, this is often called “scalable capability,” but to a skeptic, it’s a “pre-built cut.”

The “Pay-as-you-go” risk, by not owning the hardware, the Treasury can argue that if there’s a budget shortfall, the Navy can simply “reduce the subscription” for certain sensor zones. Unlike a Frigate, which costs money even when it’s docked, a service contract can be throttled down with a pen stroke.

The “Silent” Gap, the danger is that unlike a decommissioned ship (which makes headlines), a “turned off” sensor net is invisible to the public. You wouldn’t know the gap existed until a submarine was already past the GIUK Gap.

The Navy’s Counter-Argument is that the MoD is trying to bake in “stickiness” to prevent this –
Minimum thresholds, the Atlantic NET tender likely includes “availability floors”—minimum levels of sensing that must be maintained to keep the industry partners’ infrastructure viable.

Strategic priority, the programme is tied to the Integrated Review and the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which specifically identifies undersea infrastructure protection as a non-negotiable “red line” for UK security.

Cost-Efficiency, the Navy argues that because this is so much cheaper than a manned ship, it is actually more resilient to cuts. It’s much harder for the Treasury to justify cutting a £10m sensor service that does the work of a £1bn Type 26 Frigate as UKDJ reported.

“Scaling” is often a polite word for “cutting.” The real test for Atlantic Bastion will be whether the contracts are signed as multi-year fixed commitments or month-to-month “gig economy” style deals.

Under the old EU-derived rules, the government used “Most Economically Advantageous” tender. Now under UKs new Procurement Act 2023 it replaces “Economically Advantageous” with just “Most Advantageous.” By dropping the word “Economically,” the government has legally removed the requirement for price to be the primary driver.Authorities can now officially prioritise factors like social value, environmental impact, and innovation without fear of being sued for not picking the lowest bidder.

Key Shift: For major contracts (over £5m), buyers must now publish at least three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to prove they are getting real value, not just a low price tag.

Under the new MAT framework, the Social Value Model acts as a legal “weight” (usually at least 10% of the total score) that helps local businesses and SMEs beat out massive international firms that might be cheaper but offer less to the UK economy.
It levels the playing field by focusing on local growth. Instead of just buying a drone, the MoD now asks: “How many apprentices will you hire in the UK?” or “Will you use local steel?” Small businesses often win here because their entire operation is rooted in the local community.

It aims to break the “Prime” Monopoly. large “Prime” contractors are now forced to prove they are giving work to smaller UK suppliers in their supply chain to get those high social value scores .. and the “Net Zero” Advantage, Under Procurement Policy Note 06/21, bidders must provide a Carbon Reduction Plan. Local firms often have smaller carbon footprints simply because their logistics are shorter.

I know we all want capability in the water, on land and in the air now, but this is the first element of the tendering process. The article mentions that procurement will be through the usual fair competition process. I would be worried if they’d placed orders based on 4 or 5 months work looking at 26 platforms. That being said, hopefully the next phases won’t be slow rolled so they can spread the cost over a number of years.

I know right, just pick the first one and throw loads of money at it. Simplez.

Yep. Even if there are valid reasons.
Defence is now the equivalent of the little boy who cried wolf, nobody believes they’ll lift a finger any more in actually buying something.

try in the channel

Almost certainly the latter. I don’t think they are even trying to hide it either.

I would say that is an accurate assessment. We cannot take more unfunded borrowing and they have maxed tax rates. An increase for defence will either have to come from economic growth or cuts to other departments. This government will find it very difficult to make the cuts needed and get them past their own MPs, even if they had the will.

I fully expect that 2.7% is the maximum we will see without a change in government and priorities. Lots of cans being kicked down the road to be someone else’s problem.

Nothing will stop them throwing billions at welfare

Few people are aware, but there is an Appendix at the end of the SDR 2025 that overrides everything written before it.

“Keep everything in port, spend no money, bury head in sand. If challenged, refer to Rachel Reeves’s black hole.”

On my many visits to the port, She has always been sat in exactly the same place. She was still there last week I have pictures from the Port and from the Prison entrance way up above. She has been In the same position, for many many months and seldom do I see any activity. I’ll be there again soon so I’ll check again and let you know. Having a quick look on Marine Tracking today, It appears she has indeed left port, It’s a very rare thing and I can happily say so because I go there alot and I have friends who live there who joke about her. HMS Daring has been more active In the time she has been In the RN.

I look forward to your next Incarnation as much as all the others !

Just a thought, are you on Facebook or X ? I can share the pics with you, just decide on yet another name, let me know what It is and I’ll Introduce myself.
You could try names like Ulya, or Ray, or Grinch, or any number of the others you use here ?

🤔🙄🤦‍♂️

Dude !

Deary me, you haven’t a clue where she even is ?
“Portland” not “Portsmouth” It’s just a small detail but rather Important in your continued efforts here ! 😂😂😂🤦‍♂️

BTW, Your “efforts here” are all too obvious now.

A Greek Historian once wrote a book about History, maybe you should write one about this site ?

Yup, I was right then 👌😁

Yup, you have all the traits on show here. Deflection being the most obvious again.

Marine Tracker Is such a great thing !