Undersea Defence Technology (UDT), as the largest global event dedicated to the underwater defence industry, is a multi-faceted exhibition and conference reflecting the community’s desire for continuous learning and development. 

UDT is designed to equip nations to deal with an increasing diversity of threats and challenges. It brings together researchers, military end-users and professionals spanning the entire supply chain to evaluate developing solutions in one of the harshest environments known to man. 

In 2020 the event will take place 8-10 December in Rotterdam Ahoy in the Netherlands. The show’s overarching theme is ‘Teamworking in the Underwater Domain’. Teamwork, between military and government, academic research, and industry development – what the Netherlands calls the ‘Golden Triangle’ of capability development – is a concept vital to capability development. 

We are excited to reunite the undersea defence community in Rotterdam, and we are making some important changes to provide an optimal visitor experience and ensure the wellbeing of all participants. 

New safety measures will minimise close contact between attendees. These include reduced crowd density, contactless registration, wider aisles, and mandatory facemasks. Conference sessions will be delivered in an expanded theatre incorpoating distanced seating, with delegates given the option to stream content from elsewhere in the venue. 

In our two conference theatres, our main agenda will still cover the following key areas: Operational Drivers & Imperatives, incorporating underwater communications, human-machine interfacing, command information flow and anti-surface warfare (ASW); and Platform Design, including propulsion and energy system developments, signatures, lifecycle management and costs and innovative design. A Sensors & Processing stream will cover acoustic modelling, sonar design, passive sensors, and processing optical and audio signals; while the Unmanned, Remotely Piloted & Autonomous Systems stream will consider Mine Counter Measures, Unmanned ASW, navigation and control of autonomous systems, and applications of extra-large UUVs (XLUUVs). 

For the first time, UDT will have a theatre dedicated purely to uncrewed and autonomous capabilities, taking place on the show floor. The DroneZone will discuss the role of uncrewed systems in the increasingly complex underwater battlespace. The new DroneZone provides a free-to-attend forum outside of the main conference for experts in the uncrewed and autonomous domain. 

All of the full agendas are available to view on the event website, with speakers confirmed from TNO, Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, UK MoD Submarine Delivery Agency, Lloyd’s Register, Damen Shipyards, and Marina Militare Italiana to name a few. 

For more information and to register please visit udt-global.com