Lockheed Martin and the US Navy have demonstrated an AI-enabled sonar system for antisubmarine warfare during RIMPAC 2026 off Hawaii, using two MH-60R helicopters to test rapid submarine detection and tracking. The system, SensorMAX, was designed to monitor spectral energy, including subsurface acoustic data, and feed aircrews and a ground station with a continuous data stream.
The trial included over-the-air model updates, allowing the AI model to be retrained while operations were under way. Lockheed Martin framed the demonstration as a step toward fleetwide use of AI tools for antisubmarine warfare and crew-uncrewed teaming. The company also described the software as a networked sensor system intended to improve the speed of threat detection compared with traditional methods, although it did not publish detailed performance metrics or comparative test data.