Kraken and Saab test autonomous drone-seeker vessel

Kraken Technology Group and Saab UK have developed and tested an autonomous vessel carrying an air-surveillance radar, intended to provide a rapidly deployable counter-drone sensing capability at sea, the companies stated.

The prototype combines Kraken’s K3 SCOUT uncrewed surface vessel with Saab’s Giraffe 1X radar, placing the lightweight three-dimensional sensor inside the vessel’s modular payload bay to detect and track airborne targets from an uncrewed platform.

Kraken and Saab said the system was taken from concept to a working prototype in less than seven months, with sea trials subsequently carried out to assess the radar while operating in a maritime environment.

The concept is intended to extend air surveillance away from crewed warships by placing radar sensors aboard autonomous vessels which can operate independently or as part of a wider naval force. According to the companies, the configuration could provide early warning against drones and other airborne threats around shipping, ports, offshore energy infrastructure and other maritime sites.

Giraffe 1X is a compact radar from Saab’s wider Giraffe family of air-surveillance systems. Saab describes the radar as capable of detecting and tracking small airborne targets, while its size and weight allow it to be installed on a range of fixed and mobile platforms.

The K3 SCOUT is designed around a modular payload architecture, allowing different sensors and mission equipment to be fitted depending on the task. The latest trials use that payload space to turn the vessel into what Kraken and Saab describe as an autonomous “drone seeker”.

According to a joint news update from Kraken and Saab UK, Mal Crease, CEO and Founder of Kraken Technology Group, said: “Kraken and Saab UK’s prototype ‘drone seeker’ vessel is exactly what the K3 SCOUT was designed to do: integrate with mission-relevant payloads to then operate in austere maritime environments.”

The approach reflects growing interest in so-called hybrid fleets, where crewed warships operate with uncrewed vessels carrying sensors, weapons or other mission systems. In this case, the prototype is focused on sensing and early warning rather than carrying an effector to engage the targets it detects.

Moving radar coverage onto an uncrewed surface vessel could allow sensors to be positioned away from larger ships or fixed installations, although the companies have not presented the prototype as a replacement for conventional shipborne air-defence sensors.

Andy Fraser, Managing Director of Saab UK, said: “This is a pioneering, UK manufactured, deployable capability, that together with Kraken we’ve developed in less than seven months. This reflects the strength of our partnership, the maturity and flexibility of our respective technologies, and our ability to respond at pace to the evolving threat landscape and needs of our customers.”

Both systems involved in the prototype are produced in Fareham. Kraken manufactures the K3 SCOUT there, while Saab UK also produces the Giraffe 1X radar at its facilities in the area.

Kraken is expanding production following a $175 million Series B fundraising round which valued the company at $1 billion. The company says its new 35,000 sq ft manufacturing facility is being developed to support production of up to 1,000 vessels per year as demand for uncrewed maritime systems grows among allied armed forces.

The British company was founded in 2020 and produces a family of uncrewed maritime platforms including the K3 SCOUT, K5 KRAKEN and K7 SABRE surface vessels, along with the K4 MANTA surface and subsurface platform.

Saab UK employs more than 600 people across eight major UK facilities, with its activities ranging from radar and underwater systems to training, simulation and software development.

The K3 SCOUT and Giraffe 1X integration remains an experimental prototype, with the recent sea trials used to demonstrate that the radar could be fitted to the vessel and operated in maritime conditions while exploring how an autonomous surface platform could contribute to wider air-surveillance and counter-UAS networks.