UK Firms Showcase Maritime Tech in San Diego
Two UK-backed companies demonstrated underwater communications and autonomous fleet software at the Maritime Big Play event.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Robotics
UKDI-backed companies SEA Ltd and DAS Ltd demonstrated advanced maritime technologies at Maritime Big Play in San Diego, California, in October 2026. Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the Prime Minister's Special Representative on AUKUS, attended the event.
Why it matters
The demonstrations highlight collaboration among AUKUS partners on underwater and autonomous maritime systems. Innovators from the United Kingdom, United States and Australia participated in the event.
The demonstrations were held at Maritime Big Play in San Diego, with participation from innovators in the UK, United States and Australia. No performance metrics for the showcased tools were disclosed.
The players
Sir Stephen Lovegrove
Sir Stephen Lovegrove serves as the Prime Minister's Special Representative on AUKUS, overseeing the trilateral security partnership among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The details
SEA Ltd, based in Frome, showed its Acoustic Deployment Environment Planning Tool, which combines high-resolution environmental data with acoustic modelling to predict underwater communications performance. DAS Ltd, headquartered in Basingstoke, demonstrated the Autonomous Fleet Task Assignment Framework (AF-TAF), software that lets autonomous underwater vehicles allocate tasks among themselves using distributed decision-making.
Timeline
October 2026: Maritime Big Play takes place in San Diego, California.
Roadmap
The demonstrations fit within the AUKUS partnership's push to develop cooperative undersea and autonomous capabilities among Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The participation of UK-backed firms at a San Diego event reflects the trilateral industrial collaboration the framework was built to encourage.
For most readers, these demonstrations are a preview of defense and maritime technologies still in development rather than products available now. Any future adoption would depend on procurement decisions not described in the extraction.
The takeaway
Autonomous underwater coordination and acoustic communications planning are emerging as priority areas for allied maritime cooperation. Watch for follow-on procurement or contract announcements to see which demonstrated systems move toward deployment.
Further reading
Explore more robotics coverage for context on autonomous underwater systems.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Gov.
