Helsing to produce SG-1 Fathom underwater glider at UK Resilience Factory

Helsing's SG-1 Fathom underwater glider displayed at the opening of its UK Resilience Factory in Plymouth on 19 November 2025. (Helsing)

Germany's Helsing will produce and maintain its SG-1 Fathom underwater gliders at what it calls its first UK ‘Resilience Factory' in Plymouth, according to a 19 November company press release.

The facility will also be used for research and development (R&D). The Plymouth site will be Helsing's Maritime Centre of Excellence, according to the release.

The SG-1 Fathom systems are being integrated with Helsing's software command-and-control (C2) platform Lura at the facility. Lura uses a large acoustic model (LAM), which is designed to interpret acoustic signatures created by vessels and submarines. According to Helsing, Lura is able to differentiate between specific vessels from within the same class. LAM also allows the software to differentiate between vessels up to 40 times faster than human operators. The software is continuously trained against new data.

Helsing has begun production of its systems and is conducting trials at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) in Scotland.

From the third quarter of 2025, Helsing has also been testing the SG-1 at sea in the Western Approaches, Scotland, and Western Australia.

The SG-1 Fathom is an autonomous underwater glider based on dual-use technology. It can be used for subsurface surveillance with the possibility of deploying hundreds to monitor underwater areas. Previously, Janes has reported that Helsing adapted the SG-1 Fathom with its integrated Lura software for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) use cases.

The factory was announced in July 2025 as part of the Helsing's GBP350 million (USD458 million) commitment to the UK under the 2024 Trinity House Agreement.

Further analysis and assessment online: