Digital twin of a Geman frigate. Copyright: 21strategies.
Munich, April 2025 – Following the successful completion of the GhostPlay innovation project (2021-2024), 21strategies has once again been appointed as the main technical contractor for the follow-up project GhostPlay@SEA. Building on the insights and breakthroughs of the original project, which laid the foundation for the so-called Defense Metaverse, GhostPlay@SEA is now consistently expanding the application of 21strategies' tactical AI and dynamic adversarial simulation to the maritime domain.
The project, led by the Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg, as part of the Center for Digitalization and Technology Research of the German Armed Forces (dtec.bw) is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU and supported by a consortium of industry and science. In addition to 21strategies, the consortium includes ATLAS Elektronik, Hensoldt Sensors, Rheinmetall Defence Electronics and Borchert Consulting & Research.
The Defense Metaverse is expanding
21strategies was already a key technical innovation driver in GhostPlay 2021-2024. The company developed the first comprehensive AI-based red teaming capability for military systems – a unique selling point that is now in demand by the armed forces as an essential evaluation tool before large-scale investment decisions or capability definitions (FFF).
“The Defense Metaverse, developed from GhostPlay and our own industrial development work, makes AI-driven attackers visible and testable in an operational context for the first time,” said Dr. Christian Brandlhuber, CTO of 21strategies. “In the medium term, our tactical AI will help the armed forces to increase the quality and speed of military decision-making while enabling more AI assistance and autonomy in real complex combat situations.”
In GhostPlay@SEA, 21strategies is once again contributing this leading expertise and is taking on the technical lead in designing and implementing AI tactics in the maritime dimension. The aim is to simulate and train highly realistic, AI-supported tactics for the deployment and defense against unmanned systems in naval warfare and to transfer them to real physical platforms.
Collaboration with strong partners
The consortium benefits from 21strategies' technology leadership in the field of tactical AI and AI-based red teaming. ATLAS Elektronik, part of the GhostPlay ecosystem for the first time, supports the project with maritime expertise and communication. Hensoldt, Rheinmetall and BCR complement the technical spectrum with sensor technology, system integration and scientific advice.
“GhostPlay proved that realistic, AI-supported simulations can make a decisive contribution to the digital transformation of the armed forces. With GhostPlay@SEA, we are continuing down this path into a new dimension – at sea, with even higher demands in terms of tactics and speed,” explains 21strategies.
About 21strategies
21strategies is a European pioneer in tactical artificial intelligence and adversarial learning. The company develops AI-based decision-making logic that is used both in autonomous systems and to support human decision-makers in highly dynamic military situations. With the Defense Metaverse, 21strategies offers a modern and realistic simulation environment for training, evaluating and operationally testing AI-supported military systems.
