maritime
FOI Evaluates Autonomous Systems in Wargames
The Total Defence Research Institute (FOI) evaluates how autonomous systems, including unmanned vehicles, affect military command through tactical wargames, focusing on future combat aircraft and underwater drones. According to FOI, the research aims to contribute to understanding how these systems can be integrated into military operations and improve surveillance and combat readiness.
The Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) is investigating how military command is influenced by autonomous systems. Through recently developed tactical war games, the Naval Warfare School has evaluated the use of unmanned vehicles. The research also includes support for the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and the Naval Staff regarding underwater drones and future combat aircraft.
– We group everything under the term autonomous systems, but the degree of autonomy varies greatly. It ranges from remotely operated to highly automated systems, says Peter Svenmarck, a researcher at FOI's Cyber Defence and Command Technology department.
Svenmarck leads the project Future Command of Autonomous Collaborative Systems on behalf of the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten). The work focuses on who should lead the unmanned systems and how they contribute to the military overall. To concretise the challenges, tactical war games are used.
In 2025, the war game MUNI-KASS was developed specifically for the Naval Warfare School, as a follow-up to a previous game for land combat. The scenario included medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), smaller unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and medium-sized unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) capable of operating from corvettes and frigates.
– UAVs with radar that can see far were a significant advantage. This allowed the blue side to have full awareness of what the red side was doing, while the red side had no idea what the blue side was doing, says Peter Svenmarck about the results from the Navy's tests.
The surface and underwater vehicles were primarily used in the game for forward reconnaissance and protection. Since the systems are unmanned, they can make initial combat contact to build a situational picture, writes FOI.
The research runs parallel to actual procurements. In autumn 2025, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) announced that they are purchasing large autonomous underwater drones, known as LUUVs (Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicles), which NDS reported on. In spring, FOI plans to hold a workshop with operational personnel to evaluate how these can be used for maritime surveillance in the Baltic Sea.
Additionally, FOI is assisting in the project Pathway for Combat Aircraft, where Saab, on behalf of FMV, is studying the future of combat aircraft. The concept is based on a combination of manned and unmanned platforms conducting joint missions.