Major military conflicts may arise from seaways being blocked to commercial traffic. In the Strait of Hormuz, this is already happening. No wonder navies and defense forces across Europe, and beyond, are showing active, growing interest in the Elbit Systems SeaGull unmanned surface vessel.
Israeli defence sources confirmed that the ongoing situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the need to detect and neutralize sea mines are the main reason for the interest. Demonstrations of the Israeli system in some European countries are being scheduled.
The ongoing geopolitical tensions, such as the Strait of Hormuz crisis and regional dynamics in the Baltic Sea, have intensified naval interest in autonomous systems for critical infrastructure protection and fleet security.
The Elbit Sea Gull completed mine countermeasure (MCM) trials off the Belgian coast, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises with NATO navies including the UK and Spain, and testing during the U.S. Navy’s Digital Horizon exercise.
Elbit has reported broad market interest from naval forces, border guards, and police forces for its multi-mission capabilities—spanning mine hunting, electronic warfare (EW), and torpedo delivery from a single control system.
The SeaGull runs on proprietary software with AI-driven modules for detection and automatic target detection (ATD), enabling real-time mine-identification, mapping, and classification during missions like mine countermeasures (MCM).
According to Elbit , It supports high autonomy levels for tasks such as anti-submarine warfare (ASW), electronic warfare (EW), and maritime security, including collision avoidance algorithms and fail-safes like returning to safe positions if communications are lost.
In Belgian North Sea trials, SeaGull executed fully autonomous end-to-end MCM missions in challenging sea states using these AI tools. It has also integrated features like a 360-degree panoramic video system with automatic target recognition (ATR) to boost safety and operational independence.
The U.S. Navy has deployed drones and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) for mine-clearing in the Strait of Hormuz, addressing Iranian mine threats after retiring Avenger-class minesweepers. Littoral Combat Ships now rely on these systems, like the Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV) and Knifefish UUV, for safer detection and neutralization amid contested waters.
Task Force 59 integrates unmanned surface, underwater, and aerial platforms to track Iranian vessels, enhancing maritime domain awareness and deterrence without risking crews. This builds on pre-crisis exercises but has accelerated due to recent escalations, including vessel seizures and mine deployments.
“Navies now have the utmost proof that such systems are essential in any naval force,” an Elbit source said.
The Israeli company primarily offers the Seagull family of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for operations on the water surface, with integrated capabilities for underwater missions via deployable vehicles and sensors. These systems support anti-submarine warfare (ASW), mine countermeasures (MCM), electronic warfare (EW), and maritime security.
The Seagull USV is a 12-meter modular, autonomous vessel that operates singly or in pairs from a single control station on ships or shore. It achieves speeds up to 32 knots, endures over 96 hours at sea, and features obstacle avoidance per international rules. Recent integrations include mini-UAS like Skylark C for enhanced ISR and TRAPS towed sonar for submarine detection.
Seagull deploys remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), dipping sonars, side-scan sonars, and robotics for full-volume underwater search, mine neutralization, and ASW torpedo launches. It performs survey, detection, classification, and verification, keeping personnel out of minefields.