The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and Plymouth-based Marine AI have launched a world-first research project to give uncrewed vessels the ability to communicate naturally with other ships. The programme, which began last week, will see trials take place in the Plymouth and Portsmouth trial areas.
The project builds on Marine AI’s earlier proof-of-concept work with large language models (LLMs) to create an autonomy system capable of understanding and generating natural language. Backed by DASA funding, the new phase will develop and test the technology in real-world maritime environments, enabling uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to talk to both crewed and uncrewed platforms in the same way a human operator would.
With autonomous platforms becoming increasingly common, the lack of seamless communication between them and conventional shipping is a growing operational challenge. At present, USVs depend on structured protocols or human oversight, limiting their ability to respond in complex, fast-moving situations. This project seeks to
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