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French Navy Underwater Gliders Join a NATO Anti-Submarine Barrier in REPMUS 26 Drone Exercise
The French Navy deployed four Alseamar underwater gliders to NATO’s REPMUS 26 exercise in Portugal, integrating them into a multinational experimental anti-submarine barrier. Specialists from the frigate Bretagne and CENTEX FAN operated the vehicles through 17 scenarios and a 48-hour live exercise involving other uncrewed underwater targets. Using STANAG 4817, the gliders exchanged tactical information with the common operational picture alongside surface and aerial sensing platforms. The approximately 60 kg buoyancy-driven vehicles offer around four weeks of endurance and can descend to 1,000 metres, while the deployment assessed technological maturity and interoperability rather than declaring a completed operational ASW capability.