The Dutch Ministry of Defence is teaming up with local firm Lobster Robotics to turn its Scout underwater drone into a military – grade platform.  Originally designed for commercial use, Scout can detect and classify underwater objects, making it well – suited for missions such as mine hunting and subsea reconnaissance. It packs advanced optics, lighting, and smart software to generate high – resolution maps of the seafloor, cutting out hours of manual video review.

Dutch defense teams will work side by side with Lobster engineers to get the seabed drone ready for real – world military ops through iterative field testing. Beyond Dutch waters, Scout is also being considered for NATO – wide deployment. The defense ministry said lessons from the project will be shared with allies to support broader adoption.

“Dual – use technologies, such as Scout, make us faster, smarter and more effective,” said Dutch State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman.

“Within NATO, they enable us to collectively strengthen our technological edge and operational effectiveness.”

NATO Trials Fast – Track the Scout

Scout is one of the first tech pilots under NATO’s Rapid Adoption Action Plan (RAAP), aimed at speeding up how dual – use technologies reach the battlefield.  While RAAP has not been formally approved, the Netherlands is already running trials and has invited NATO allies to observe.  Lobster also earned a place in NATO’s DIANA accelerator program with its dual – use tech, beating out over 1,300 applicants.

“This is rapid adoption in action,” said Lobster CEO Stephan Rutten. “We’re building with the users, in the field, and focused on what actually works.”

• Next Gen Defense