Germany’s Bundeswehr deploys six-meter unmanned reconnaissance boat based on the Vanta drone platform

The German Bundeswehr has officially put into service the Seetaube unmanned surface vessel, developed by the German company Stark on the basis of its Vanta marine drone, the company's press service has announced.

The Seetaube is nearly six meters long and is equipped with cameras, radar, and a range of other sensors. The order was placed by the Cyber and Information Domain Command (Kommando CIR) in partnership with the Cyber Innovation Hub Bundeswehr.

According to Stark, the vessel is designed to enhance the Bundeswehr's maritime reconnaissance capabilities, particularly for locating signal sources. The boat can serve as an additional mobile platform for cross-bearing operations and can also carry out pre-planned missions autonomously.

The Vanta platform, on which the Seetaube is based, has already undergone testing during NATO exercises in Portugal and was trialed for nearly a month in the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier, the Vanta drones were intended for use in countering Russia's so-called "shadow fleet." Stark's press service explained that such vessels often have opaque ownership structures, fly flags of third countries, and can conceal or manipulate their location data.

It was also previously reported that Vanta 6 drones were planned for monitoring in the Baltic Sea. The system can detect suspicious vessels when their transponders are switched off, analyze satellite data, cross-reference it with maritime traffic signals, and track targets for extended periods.