Agilica BV, a spin-out from the Royal Military Academy of Belgium is proud to announce its key role in the SAILS (Safe Autonomous Integrated Landing system for Ships) project, a pioneering DEFRA-funded research initiative led by Sabena Engineering in partnership with Royal Military Academy, Agilica and the Belgian Navy. The project, running from March 2025 to March 2028 with a budget of €1.6M, aims to deliver a robust multi-sensor architecture for autonomous approach and landing of UAS on moving vessels in challenging maritime conditions.
“Landing a drone on a moving ship is among the toughest navigation challenges in maritime autonomy,” says Bart Scheers, COO. “With SAILS, we’re moving from concept to operational demonstration — bridging maritime robotics and safe flight operations.”
“By fusing UWB, inertial sensing, radar, IR and visual data, our goal is a system so reliable it gives ship captains confidence to launch and recover autonomously,” adds Hafeez Chaudhary, CEO.
As part of this collaboration, the SAILS consortium assembled at NavyTech Fest 2025, taking place in Belgium on 4th – 5th October, to present the integrated system demonstrations and host Q&A sessions with naval stakeholders and industry delegates.
About SAILS
SAILS is a Belgian Defence-commissioned project under the DEFRA programme (REF: 24DEFRA010) and unites academia, industry, and operational end users. Its objectives include realizing safe, reliable autonomous landings in contested sea states, enlarging UAV mission envelopes, and fostering dual-use applications in offshore energy, search & rescue, and defence domains.
