IMDEX 2025 – Alseamar presents the Seaexplorer 1000-M underwater glider for civilian and military use
On the French Pavilion at IMDEX 2025 in Singapore, Alseamar presented the military version of its Seaexplorer 1000-M glider. This glider is an autonomous underwater vehicle designed to collect ocean data over long periods of time and vast distances without surface supervision
A persistent measurement platform, it is suitable for a wide range of applications including oceanographic research, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, as well as defence applications such as rapid environmental assessment (REA), acoustic intelligence and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
It generates profiles of the water column (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, etc.) over large areas and extended periods. The Seaexplorer 1000-M also enables continuous, autonomous monitoring of the state of the ocean, which is useful for scientific research, detecting pollutants and monitoring biodiversity, and can also be used for environmental impact studies, acoustic detection, sonar propagation analysis, rapid assessment of marine conditions and anti-submarine surveillance. Its autonomy eliminates the need for costly surface vessels, and it can be deployed and recovered easily, even by small teams.
The Seaexplorer 1000-M has a diameter of 0.25 metres, a length of 2 metres plus 1 metre of foldable antenna and has a mass of 59 kg out of water. It is capable of diving to 1,000 metres and can reach a nominal speed of 0.5 knots and a maximum speed of 1 knot. Power is provided by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that allows endurance of 110 days depending on mission profile and sensors installed, range going up to 1,700 km. Designed as a glider, two wings fitted with electric motors activating two-blade propellers can be fitted, allowing the Seaexplorer to become a powered system.
Navigation modes include profiling, virtual mooring, drift anchoring and bottoming. Safety systems include autonomous ballast release and strobe light, while as option customers can add an underwater locator beacon and an Argos. The glider is fitted with an altimeter.
For navigation and communication, the Alseamar glider is equipped with GPS receiver, an Iridium SATCOM, and a radio and triple antenna.
An application programming interface allows sensor integration by the end-user. Natively it is fitted with a compressed comma-separated value to reduce files dimensions, data downloading being made through an external Ethernet cable.
It can carry a payload of up to six sensors in two sections, a wet bay, and a dry bay, with a maximum volume of 9 litres and a maximum mass of 8 kg. Its standard sensors are CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth), DO (dissolved oxygen), chlorophyll, turbidity, chromophoric dissolved organic matter, acoustic doppler current profiler, fluorometers, lab-on-chip and underwater vision profiler. It can be fitted with optional advanced sensors capable to detect hydrocarbons, sewage, pesticides, micro-turbulence, methane, and can be equipped with a passive acoustic recorder with up to 8 channels. On demand the Seaexplorer 1000-M can be equipped with ad-hoc sensors for detecting metal traces, micronutrients, nitrates, CO2 partial pressure, echo sounder, or others. underwater vision, etc.
The glider moves forward by modifying its buoyancy (silent buoyancy motor), which allows it to move up and down in the water column while gliding horizontally, without a propeller, making it very discreet and ideal for collecting acoustic data or passive detection.
During NATO exercises, several SEAEXPLORERs have been deployed to provide sound speed profiles and acoustic measurements in real time, demonstrating their reliability and value for defence and environmental research.
In summary, the SEAEXPLORER 1000-M GLIDER is a versatile, robust and autonomous tool for collecting and monitoring ocean data, with a high degree of modularity to adapt to a variety of scientific, industrial and military needs.
Images courtesy Alseamar
