Special Report: Sonar76Nano sonar senses change for uncrewed underwater surveillance
A concept graphic of Thales Sonar76Nano in use, released in December 2025. (Thales)
On 8 December 2025, at an event in HM Naval Base Portsmouth, UK Defence Secretary John Healey formally unveiled a Royal Navy (RN) plan to field a new ‘hybrid' fleet to maintain operational advantage against Russian threats in the North Atlantic.
Dubbed ‘Atlantic Bastion', the plan seeks to transform the way the RN – working together with the Royal Air Force and NATO allies – undertakes anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and protection of critical underwater infrastructure (CUI) in a new era of ‘cat and mouse' beneath the waves. In particular, Atlantic Bastion looks to integrate autonomous platforms, deployed sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) ‘at the edge' in order to create a layered and persistent sensor network operating together with more traditional, but increasingly scarce, manned ASW platforms. The intent is that this digital targeting web will dramatically improve the ability of the RN to find, track and, if required, prosecute undersea threats.
A little over a week after Healey's announcement in Portsmouth, the underwater systems business of Thales UK demonstrated the technology underpinning its new Sonar76Nano multifunction acoustic sensor to the RN at a showcase event near Plymouth. Aimed squarely at Atlantic Bastion and similarly novel and networked ASW concepts, the internally funded development was taken from concept to prototype within about 10 months.
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