Elbit Systems to present underwater drones at Euronaval 2026 in Paris

Elbit announced on Thursday that it will present its Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) capabilities for the first time at Euronaval 2026, marking the expansion of the company’s autonomous maritime offering into the underwater domain.

Euronaval is set to take place in Paris November 3-6.

So far, sources have not indicated any expected problems with the French government over Israeli participation, though air force-focused conferences have seen significant drama between Paris and Jerusalem in recent years.

These new capabilities were added to Elbit Systems’ portfolio following the acquisition last week of International Submarine Engineering Ltd. (ISE), a provider of autonomous underwater systems that has delivered more than 250 underwater vehicles to customers in over 20 countries worldwide.

The new UUV solutions will be showcased alongside the company’s Seagull family of Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) and additional maritime solutions from Elbit Systems’ naval portfolio.

The existing systems engaged in patrol and reconnaissance missions, located and neutralized sea mines, and supported anti-submarine operations, but were focused on naval missions above the sea surface.

For example, Seagull has been carrying out mission since 2017.

But underwater vehicles require different technologies and a different conceptual focus.

Elbit's new systems enable coordinated surface and underwater missions

The combined architecture enables integrated operations between underwater and surface autonomous systems, in addition to extended opportunities for integrated manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) concepts, meaning vehicles with humans-soldier and drone-style vehicles working in tandem.

Elbit's UUV portfolio now includes modular Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) designed for missions such as intelligence gathering, mine countermeasure (MCM) operations, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), seabed mapping and protection of critical maritime infrastructure and strategic assets.

The systems support long-endurance autonomous operations and integrate a range of payloads, including sonars, ISR systems and mission-specific sensors.

Elbit highlights coordinated surface and underwater naval operations

According to Elbit, "The company’s vertically integrated approach enables coordinated autonomous maritime formations tailored to evolving operational requirements, supporting integrated mission planning, launch and recovery, as well as the execution of coordinated surface and underwater missions."

"Navies are increasingly looking for comprehensive autonomous solutions for complex maritime missions," said Oren Sabag, General Manager of Elbit Systems ISTAR & EW. "The addition of UUV capabilities further expands our autonomous maritime portfolio and strengthens our ability to provide customers with a holistic operational solution spanning surface and underwater autonomous systems, payloads and mission management capabilities."