Irish Navy takes part in EU's first live test of 'next-generation' maritime surveillance system

The Defence Forces' statement pointed out that Ireland’s maritime area is almost 900,000 square kilometres or 10 times its land mass. File photo

The Irish Navy has taken part in the first live test of a “next-generation” European maritime surveillance system at the EU's largest naval exercise.

Naval commanders hope this new system will assist them in spotting and tracking suspect vessels, including those linked to sanctioned Russian oil transports, passing through Ireland's vast waters.

This year, the MARSUR exercise, supported by the European Defence Agency (EDA), tested a new digital platform, 'MARSUR III'.

An EDA statement said the test took place at REPMUS — the Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Unmanned Systems — in Portugal, running from August 31 to September 25.

“It is Europe's largest exercise of its kind, hosted by the Portuguese Navy alongside EDA and NATO,” the statement said.

Jürgen Scraback, Head of the Maritime Domain at EDA, said the REPMUS results mark “the first time this level of multi-domain integration has been proven live, rather than just on paper”.

He added: “It is a significant step toward a fully classified, EU Secret-level MARSUR network by 2028, he said. It also fills another EU capability gap to meet the [EU Defence] Readiness 2030 agenda.” 

The EDA statement said MARSUR, launched under EDA's auspices, gives European nations a “shared, real-time naval picture of activity” to help detect threats, complementary to NATO's own maritime surveillance architecture.

It said: “MARSUR’s sophistication has accelerated markedly over the past two years, becoming the European Union’s eyes at sea. Fusing data from across EU navies, radar, satellites, and open-source feeds gives commanders the clarity required to respond to crises and threats.” 

In a statement, the Defence Forces confirmed that Irish Naval personnel deployed in support of MARSUR III.

It said: “With the support of the EDA, the community developed a next-generation digital platform known as ‘MARSUR III’ for secure information exchange and communication services. MARSUR III is fast becoming the backbone of Europe’s collaborative maritime situational awareness.” 

The Defence Forces' statement pointed out that Ireland’s maritime area is almost 900,000 square kilometres or 10 times its land mass.

“Maintaining maritime domain awareness in Ireland’s vast maritime area is a significant challenge," it said. 

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"Co-operative information sharing communities such as MARSUR can support domain awareness by providing the Irish Naval Service and national maritime authorities with timely relevant information of vessels who may be of interest who can then be monitored as they pass through Irish waters.” 

It said MARSUR is a key part in the the development of a European Integrated Maritime and Seabed Defence (IMSD) capability, which, it said, is currently in the “early stages” of development.

“This capability aims to protect Europe's vital seas and underwater infrastructure by providing real-time, multi-domain surveillance information,” the statement said.

It added: “Deploying Irish Naval personnel to support MARSUR III alongside their fellow European naval counterparts enables these personnel to confirm the capability of MARSUR III while exercising their skills in information sharing at this level.”

• Cormac O’Keeffe, security correspondent