The Greyshark autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), developed by Euroatlas, made its first appearance in Asia at IMDEX 2025. The Germany-based company exhibited a mock-up of its 6.5m-long Greyshark Bravo variant.
The 3.5-tonne Bravo is powered by lithium-ion batteries, whereas the larger 4.5-tonne Foxtrot variant uses fuel cells for its electric drive. The latter variant measures 7.99m long in order to accommodate fuel cells that are sourced from a car manufacturer.
The Greyshark fits inside a 40-foot container for transportation by truck, train, air or sea. It can then deploy from a port or pier using a crane or slip ramp. Alternatively, the AUV can enter the sea from a mothership or even be parachuted from a cargo aircraft.
Niko Schmidt, Key Account Manager/Sales Manager at Euroatlas, told Asian Military Review that the Greyshark Bravo will complete its development midyear, whereas the fuel cell-powered Foxtrot will be finished by the end of 2025.
Bremen-based Euroatlas unveiled the Greyshark at last year’s Euronaval exhibition, so its appearance at IMDEX, held in Singapore from 6-8 May, illustrates the company’s desire to tap the Indo-Pacific market as well. One of its advantages is that it uses non-US technology, so it has an ITAR-free status.
It is similar in function to the Anduril Ghost Shark being developed for Australia. However, it is not designed to accept modular payloads as the Ghost Shark is. It employs a flooded hull rather than a pressure hull, which has a side benefit of reducing its sonar cross-section.
The craft is propelled by a segmented ring rotor propellor. Fuel cells offer significantly better performance and endurance. For example, the Foxtrot can stay submerged for 16 weeks if moving at a speed of 4kt over a maximum range of 10,700nm. Schmidt said this endurance could be extended to months if the vessel remains dormant on the seabed.
On the other hand, if the fuel cell-powered Foxtrot moves at its optimal speed of 10kt, it has only a five-day endurance. By contrast, the Bravo can last only 6 hours at this speed.
The Greyshark is equipped with an electromagnetic sensor array, multibeam forward-looking sonar, sound velocity sensor, laser imaging and measurement system, multibeam echosounder, synthetic aperture sonar, and passive and active acoustic sensors.
Euroatlas’ partner for the Greyshark is EvoLogics, based in Berlin. It has expertise in underwater robotics, sensor arrays and artificial intelligence. It thus provides the AUV’s mission control system, onboard computing, navigation, data collection, sensor fusion and AI functionality.
The manoeuvrable Greyshark can dive nearly vertically, and Schmidt listed missions such as monitoring underwater infrastructure, port-to-port reconnaissance, channel/coast clearing and naval mine warfare. For the latter, Schmidt said the Greyshark can detect and identify mines, and in the future it could even carry up to four mini-torpedoes for neutralisation of sea mines.
Communication with the surface is via a telescopic antenna system with built-in military-grade radio and anti-jam satellite navigation system. The Greyshark is autonomous, but it can receive mission updates via its communications link.
The Greyshark is also designed to operate in swarms, thanks to underwater acoustic communications over a maximum range of 10nm. The AUV can recharge from an underwater battery induction plate too, and the aim is for the craft to eventually dive as deep as 4,000m.
by Gordon Arthur
