The largest global event dedicated to the undersea defence industry, Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) returns in May 2023.
Taking place in Rostock, Germany, the multi-faceted conference and exhibition will bring together the best expertise this domain has to offer. UDT 2023 will provide an invaluable platform for all stakeholders in the undersea defence community to come together, learn, expand networks and explore business opportunities.
The geopolitical landscape has shifted dramatically since the previous UDT, with this year’s event taking place at a critical time in Europe. As the world slowly recovers from a two-year long pandemic whilst trying to grasp the current global economic state, we are once again faced with conflict on the European continent.
Recent events show there are new challenges and threats that defence must face. Not merely on land, but on the open waters and even under them, with disruptions caused to critical infrastructure on which our daily routines and security depend.
Success in this domain relies, in part, on bringing together the entirety of the underwater defence community to learn and develop new methods of operation.
Rapid advances in digital and autonomous technology including advanced sensing and computing herald a new era in the underwater domain. New levels of Maritime domain awareness are required to ensure a measured, appropriate, and timely response to increasing threats, including from lightweight weapons, un-crewed systems and more advanced surveillance abilities which are causing this domain to change at pace.
According to Shephard’s Naval Vessels Market Report, the global market for conventional submarines alone is expected to increase to US$8.0 billion by 2029. Equally important, the market is expected to have a value of US$90.3 billion over the next decade.
Designed to equip nations to deal with an increasing diversity of threats and challenges, UDT brings together researchers, military end-users and professionals spanning the entire supply chain to evaluate developing solutions in one of the harshest environments known to man.
The three-day conference will especially give attendees, including governments, an insight into the breadth of the underwater aspect of defence. UDT will offer them a chance to see the progress that has been made across the underwater domain, including newly enhanced and improved technologies, new programmes, and new equipment.
The conference will carry important themes surrounding underwater defence and the role it plays in keeping us safe, as well as its potential role as a disruptor. Big Data and AI are continuing to play a significant role in improving surveillance, detection and human performance. AI broadly speaking can have an impact across all pillars for UDT 2023 and across all areas of underwater warfare.
Authors are encouraged to submit papers for UDT 2023 that advance the understanding of those engaged in the underwater defence and security community in its broadest sense. Papers that explore the conference theme “Maintaining the operational advantage with increased undersea domain awareness” will be particularly welcomed.
This extension covers how broader ISR in the Maritime domain can support underwater operations such as coastal surveillance, space surveillance, shipping and pattern of life monitoring, and how open-source intelligence can be utilised to achieve operational advantage against an adversary in one of the harshest environments known to man (and machine).
Naval advisor for Clarion and former Royal Navy officer Adrian Pierce, who previously led a team to review UK anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability, said: “Recent events have reminded us of modern society’s vulnerability to threats and attacks from, and in, the Maritime Domain. This proves that nations must re-examine their ability to defend and exploit the underwater domain to reduce potential threats to national security. As such, UDT is the perfect opportunity, not only for the defence community to come together, expand networks and explore business opportunities, but to learn and better understand the detrimental factors behind threats, as well as the benefits of Undersea Defence and Technological capabilities.”
To register for the event, please click here: https://www.udt-global.com/actualidad-2023
