Euroguard partners align on MSAS vessels

The Euroguard workshop brought together more than 80 participants from 10 EU Member States. (Photo: Damen Shipyards)

Partners in the Euroguard program met in Rome from Oct. 7-9 to consolidate progress and set the direction for the next phase of work on medium-sized semi-autonomous surface (MSAS) vessels. The workshop brought together more than 80 participants from 10 EU Member States, including representatives from industry and defense organisations.

The Euroguard program, funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF), brings together 23 companies from ten EU Member States aiming to design and build a MSAS. The program advances enabling technologies for autonomous surface systems and consolidates them within the Generic European Naval System Architecture (GENSA). A 45-meter prototype is under construction at Baltic Workboats in Estonia.

The October workshop combined technology updates with demonstrations of the GENSA and the Digital Ship Design Environment (DSDE), which are spearheaded by the Dutch partners. The GENSA and DSDE allow for a standardized and shortened identification, concept exploration and design process for future MSAS vessels.

A scenario-based wargaming session was delivered by Damen Naval’s RD&I Wargaming team. (Photo: Damen Shipyards)

In addition, a scenario-based wargaming session was delivered by Damen Naval’s RD&I Wargaming team. The session applied this methodology to support rapid concept exploration across operations, systems, and vessel configurations. The approach enables rapid and collaborative decision-making in multi-stakeholder settings, aligning with the benefits identified in NATO studies.

“The EUROGUARD project started in December 2023, and since then, much work has been done on the development of the technology, the prototype and of course Damen Naval’s input, which is the GENSA,” said Marcel Elenbaas, project manager for the Dutch scope of Euroguard. “Because the topic of the project is new and involves rapidly developing technologies, these workshops are used to optimize the collaboration within the consortium and participating member states. The aim for this particular workshop was to define what’s next for the project – to set the scene going forward.”

The consortium reviewed the prototype demonstration plan and defined operational scenarios through the wargaming to validate GENSA later in the project. The wargame also helped initiate discussion on topics relevant to developing both the MSAS and the GENSA, such as the following:

• How future uncrewed naval vessels will operate.
• Which systems and system combinations are suitable.
• Which maturing technologies are applicable.
• Lessons from Ukraine on drones and from the Baltic Sea on subsea cables.
• The potential for collaborative European operations in the Baltic, Mediterranean, and North Seas.
• The scope for future cooperation projects.

“The GENSA provides a framework and method to stimulate collaboration and innovation across the European defense industry and alignment on needs and operation between its member states,” said Koen Droste, technical lead for GENSA. “This is to develop MSAS systems faster with a clear identification of where we should develop together within Europe to be able to achieve the larger goals vs where a member state or industry partner needs to innovate on its own to get it done quicker.”

As a result of the workshop, participants were able to define what’s next for the project; capture relevant operational scenarios and applicable technology during a wargame-based concept exploration; identify the scope for future cooperation projects; and demonstrate how GENSA can contribute to the topics noted above.