Lockheed Martin and the US Navy demonstrated a rapidly retrainable AI/ML sonar system for antisubmarine warfare during RIMPAC 26 this summer, highlighting the potential of artificial intelligence to support faster and more adaptable underwater threat detection.
The system, known as SensorMAX, monitors spectral energy, including subsurface acoustic data, to assist crews with rapid threat detection. Enhanced by an over-the-air (OTA) model update capability, SensorMAX is designed to improve the US Navy’s subsurface detection capabilities.
SensorMAX uses AI/ML technology to understand ocean sounds. Taking in subsurface acoustic data from a network of sensors, SensorMAX provides a continuous data stream to the aircrew and sends information to the ground station.
When a new target is identified, system operators label the identified noise signature, retrain the model on the new data and push a small update packet back to the aircrew.
According to Lockheed, this closed-loop workflow (capture, label, retrain, and deploy) enables the crew with continuously enhanced situational awareness throughout their mission. Retraining the model takes under 5 minutes per iteration, the company noted.
Off the coast of Hawaii during RIMPAC, two MH-60R helicopters equipped with Lockheed Martin’s AI/ML system conducted a series of antisubmarine warfare missions against an undersea threat. The helicopters deployed sonobuoys, which acted as underwater microphones to capture acoustic data from the subsurface environment and feed information to SensorMAX.
SensorMAX served as the navy’s AI portable sonar expert, continuously monitoring sonobuoy data and assisting crews with target identification. The system interface enables aircrews to manage up to eight simultaneous sonobuoy surveillance feeds, doubling the capacity of legacy capabilities.
Ground operators were able to retrain SensorMAX’s models on new sounds within minutes before transmitting AI-enhanced undersea intelligence over the air using an encrypted data link directly back to the helicopter and fleet.
“Today's battlespace requires the defense industry to accelerate capability delivery and seamlessly integrate commercial technology; at RIMPAC 2026 our mission‑focused engineers demonstrated exactly how we are meeting that challenge,” said Devon Rodgers, vice president and general manager, Undersea Mission Systems.
“Lockheed Martin is investing its own resources to mature AI capabilities, blending commercial innovation with our engineering expertise so the Navy has the technology it needs for tomorrow’s battles.”
By demonstrating platform-agnostic AI intelligence and classification, the future fleet can leverage any acoustic sensor to expand the protective ring around high-value assets and accelerate the ASW kill chain, Lockheed concluded.