Helsing Opens Plant for Production of Underwater Drones in UK

Helsing has opened the UK’s first Resilience Factory in Plymouth to produce autonomous underwater drones.

The company has already begun assembling marine systems and testing them at Turnchapel Pier and the British Underwater Test Center, UK Defence Journal reports.

The company calls the new 1,672-square-meter facility ‘Maritime Center of Excellence’. It includes a research hub and a production facility with modern equipment.

Helsing positions it as a key element of the Trinity House’s long-term plan, which includes multimillion-dollar investments in the UK defense industry.

The center in Plymouth will create dozens of highly skilled jobs in the region. The main focus is on the production of the SG 1 Fathom autonomous British-designed underwater drone integrated with the Lura maritime artificial intelligence platform.

The system is designed for long-term underwater surveillance of sea lanes and critical infrastructure.

The company reported successful tests of the system on the west coast of the UK and Ireland, off the coast of Scotland and Western Australia.