UDT 2026: Aeromaritime details AT7000 antenna system for submarine communications

Aeromaritime's AT-7000 Series submarine communications and SIGINT antenna, displayed at UDT 2026. (Janes/Kirk Evans)

German maritime communications company Aeromaritime told Janes about the development of its AT-7000 series submarine antenna, at Clarion Defence's Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) 2026 exhibition, held in London from 14-16 April.

The AT-7000 is a multifunctional communications and SIGINT antenna system designed for both terrestrial and non-terrestrial communications. It sits within the ICS, likely supporting specific voice/radio routing and terminal interfacing functions via the terminal adapter units.

The AT-7000 series replaces Aeromaritime's earlier 4000 series submarine antennas. Unlike previous designs that were primarily communications focused, the AT-7000 is intended to support multiple roles. “With this generation, we can not only do communication, we can also do ELINT [electronic intelligence], COMMINT [communications intelligence] and SIGINT [signals intelligence],” he explained, highlighting the antenna's ability to support both communications and electromagnetic sensing functions at extended ranges.

According to Aeromaritime the AT-7000 series have an extended operational range of 10 kHz - 6 GHz. It has a Very Low Frequency / High Frequency Receiver (VLF/HF-Rx), 2G, 4G, 5G, and WiFi capability, while maintaining the same form fit as the AT-4000.

Core system components, including the nodes and terminals, are developed and produced in house, while peripheral equipment is sourced externally. “This is all own production,” said Jan Moles, CEO of Aeromaritime. “Everything else, all the peripheries like printers, radios, modems, cryptography devices, all this we get from outside and connect it to the system.” This architecture allows customer navies to integrate radios and subsystems from preferred suppliers while maintaining a single integrated communications framework.