Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilder, unveiled on Thursday its first underwater drone systems as it changes its product mix in order to give more space for the lucrative submarine business.

Underwater drones are designed to protect and maintain critical underwater infrastructure, such as electrical cables, pipelines and telecommunications. The underwater drone can be used to monitor and protect the marine environment.

The threat to underwater infrastructure was historically underestimated. It is a real hybrid threat, said Fincantieri CEO Pierroberto Fogiero.

He said that these threats exist "in the Baltic Sea, and increasingly in Mediterranean sea, which is congested in terms of critical infrastructure but also in Black Sea".

The Italian Navy's La Spezia experimentation center installed a Dynamic Ecosystem for Improved Performance (DEEP) at the company.

Platform includes a network underwater sensors, control center for managing in real time, group of underwater vehicles, and AI-based data processing and analysis system.

Preliminary data from PwC Strategy& shows that the global market for sea-drone systems will reach 18,9 billion euros ($22,04 billion) in 2030. The average annual growth rate is 15.7%. Fincantieri announced in May that it expects revenue from its undersea business to double by the year 2027.

Folgiero stated that "the launch of DEEP is tangible evidence of our commitment" to push the boundaries of technology ever deeper.

Fincantieri, a state-owned aerospace and defense group, has worked with Leonardo, a number of Italian companies in the subsea industry.

The shipbuilder has signed a deal with the energy contractor Saipem, which is developing specific technologies for subsea robots.

Saipem’s CEO had earlier said on Thursday that the group will continue to develop its technology and pursue commercial opportunities with Fincantieri. This was in response to media reports that Saipem might consider selling its underwater drones division.

(source: Reuters)