On July 1st, French company SEAir proudly kicked off the ARROW project in Brussels, a groundbreaking initiative under the indirect management of the European Defence Agency and supported by the European Defence Fund.
SEAir press release
With over 90,000 kilometers of coastline and critical maritime routes, Europe faces growing challenges in safeguarding its borders. ARROW addresses these challenges by providing faster, more agile, and cost-effective solutions to detect and respond to new maritime threats.
The European Defence Fund aims to promote the development of defense capabilities through investment, helping EU companies develop advanced and interoperable technologies and equipment. Through this initiative and built on experiences and successes from previous projects, ARROW strengthens Europe’s defense capacity, ensuring both innovation and strategic autonomy.
SEAir will lead a European consortium of 10 participating entities, bringing together 8 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and 2 Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) from 8 EU Member States or European-associated countries to successfully deliver this strategic project: C&V Defence, D3 Applied Technologies, Knierim Yachtbau GmbH, Maritime Robotics AS, Rฤซgas Tehniskฤ universitฤte (Riga Technical University), TalTech โ Tallinn University of Technology, Sierra Tango, Maxwell Applied Tech, EU3STAR B.V.
ARROW is a 12-metre vessel that will operate autonomously or with a crew. Thanks to hydrofoil, it will achieve high speeds (35 to 45 knots) and a range of 400 nautical miles (50% of fuel consumption reduction benefits). ARROW will minimise wake and enable low-visibility operation.
The project has been allocated a total budget of โฌ7.5 million by the EU and is poised to deliver a fully autonomous USV platform by 2028, offering unmatched performance for European Naval Forces.
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Naval News comment:
Naval News reported on the ARROW project at the Euronaval 2024 exhibition, where SEAir, in addition to presenting the project, also unveiled new USV models adapted from the ARROW model – the SCP120 design. The next steps will be to finalise the design and build the prototype, so that sea trials can take place in 2027.
