Five innovative projects launched today will harness the potential of digital twinning technology to transform environmental science. The digital twin pilot projects will demonstrate how research using Earth observation data and emerging digital twinning technologies can transform environmental science across priority areas including climate change, biodiversity and ecosystems, and natural hazards.

NOAA and partners are improving hurricane forecasting by harnessing the power of new technologies and working to coordinate these technologies to predict hurricane track, intensity, and rapid intensification. Uncrewed systems and other tools are gathering data at different levels of the ocean and the atmosphere that are key to understanding how storms form, build, and intensify.

Mission Systems technology will be implemented in Exail’s MCM solutions including within the framework of the SEA 1905 Mine Countermeasures Program. The collaboration will mainly centre around two themes: sonar simulation and machine learning. It will enable Exail to fit its maritime drones with advanced technology from Mission Systems, providing navies with the next generation of autonomous solutions. Exail teams have already started to integrate Mission Systems technology in its drone mission management software UMISOFTTM in its DM (Data Management) module.

Following the acquisition of iXblue by Group Gorgé end of September, ECA Group and iXblue announced today that both companies will be operating under a new joint brand: Exail. With this alliance, Exail becomes a global high-tech industrial champion specializing in cutting-edge robotics, maritime, navigation, aerospace and photonics technologies. Combining complementary technological expertise and geographical footprint with a strong legacy of innovation, Exail provides its global base of customers with cutting-edge in-house manufactured technologies ranging from components and sensors to products and complex systems.

Groupe Gorgé announced today having reached a major milestone with the acquisition of iXblue. This operation, that will bring ECA Group and iXblue together, will lead to the rise of a European high-tech industrial champion in the fields of robotics, maritime, navigation, aerospace and photonics. The two companies will benefit from a global workforce of 1,500 people and will achieve an annual turnover of €250 million. Together, iXblue and ECA Group will provide customers with a unique offer ranging from components to complex systems to support critical missions in severe environments.

Last june, ECA Group welcomed the Latvian Navy to carry out the Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) for their modernised ship’s Command and Control (CC) system and Mine Identification and Disposal systems (MIDS). These systems will be soon integrated onto Latvia’s Tripartite-class Mine Hunter vessels (IMANTA Class). The Latvian Navy will be the first to be equipped with a comprehensive drone solution from ECA Group, specifically designed to be fitted during modernisation programmes of previous generation Mine Hunters.

ECA Group today opens its brand new factory in Ostend, Belgium, in the presence of Hilde Crevits, Deputy Prime Minister of the Flemish Government and Admiral Hofman, Chief of Defence. This state-of-the-art facility will be dedicated to the production and support of the Mine Warfare Drones of ECA Group, one of the world leaders in Mine Counter Measures solutions.

ECA Group and iXblue have entered an exclusive negotiations period to bring the two French companies together. Carried out by Group Gorgé, this operation will lead to the rise of a European high-tech industrial champion in the fields of maritime, inertial navigation, space and photonics.

Fugro has accepted an invitation from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IOC-UNESCO) to join the Ocean Decade Alliance (the ‘Alliance’). Comprising an eminent network of global leaders and institutions, the Alliance aims to catalyse support for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021‑2030 (the ‘Ocean Decade’) through targeted resource mobilization, networking and influence.

The exponential growth of offshore wind power will be the main driver of a nine-fold increase in demand for ocean space by the middle of the century, according to DNV’s Ocean’s Future to 2050. The report forecasts that by midcentury, offshore wind will require ocean space which is the equivalent to the landmass of Italy. The growth will be particularly pronounced in regions with long coastlines and presently have low penetration of offshore wind. Demand for ocean space is set to grow 50-fold in the Indian Subcontinent and 30-fold in North America.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists from Mexico and the U.S. discovered new hydrothermal vents and six possible new animal species during a 33-day expedition off the coast of La Paz on Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor. The underwater robot ROV SuBastian was used to explore and sample vents emitting fluids at temperatures up to 287°C (549°F) along with the unique animal communities inhabiting this extreme environment. ROV SuBastian additionally captured stunning imagery of the seafloor including hydrothermal mirror pools, calcite spires, and iridescent blue scale worms.

The R7, the latest addition to ECA GROUP's family of ROVs, combines the compactness and ease of deployment of mini-ROVs with the performance, speed and payload carrying capacity of professional observation-class ROVs.

Fugro has signed a partnership agreement with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IOC-UNESCO) to improve the coordination of and access to global ocean science data.

ECA GROUP has contracted CTM and PATRIA to supply two minesweeping subsystems that will be towed with its INSPECTOR 125-S Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV). The fully integrated solution will provide enhanced multi-influence minesweeping capabilities within the Mine Counter Measures replacement (rMCM) programme awarded by Belgium and the Netherlands to the Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, composed of Naval Group and ECA GROUP.

The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project and Kongsberg Maritime have entered a Memorandum of Understanding in support of the global initiative to produce the complete map of the ocean floor. Under the terms of the MOU, the two parties will work together to advance understanding of ocean bathymetry. The effort complements the goals of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Marine scientists aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor have identified likely new marine species and deep sea organisms on nine seamounts that were explored for the first time in the remote Phoenix Islands Archipelago. In a 34-day expedition that ended today, scientists also conducted high-resolution seafloor mapping of more than 30,000 square kilometers and video exploration of five additional seamounts.

ECA GROUP will replace the vessels’ conventional mine detection systems based on a hull sonar with a more compact, mobile and evolutive unmanned system UMIS, consisting of AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) A18-M drones fitted with the latest generation ECA GROUP synthetic aperture sonar UMISAS for detection, and several underwater robots, the Seascan MK2 and K-STER C for mines identification and neutralisation.

Marine technology equipment supplier Sonardyne is aiming to become carbon neutral by the end of 2025, making it the first company of its type in the UK subsea industry to publicly announce such an ambitious target.