Why SAUFAL?

To protect the sovereignty of Japan, a maritime nation surrounded by the sea, the safety of the navigation should be always assured to enable the daily export and import activities without any hazard. Protection of the submarine cable supporting the internet connections and prevention of the invasion of any hostile boat to any Japanese coast are equally important. For these critical missions, the capability of the search by the satellites, airplanes and vessels, and the counter-attack whenever it’s judged necessary, is essential. But it’s not good enough. The same capability is also required under the water.

On the other hand, everybody should pay a keen attention on the very rapid progress in the science and technologies in the recent days. Especially, in the areas of Information, Communication, AI and Robotics, the speed of technological progress is really eye opening. What have been believed that only the human can do now looks very little. Due to this, the practice of the warfare will face to a big Paradigm Shift very soon. Within a decade or so, people will start wondering why many young soldiers’ lives had to be lost in the battler fields in the old days. Most of the jobs, which used to be the responsibilities of the young soldiers, will then have become the jobs of the AI and Robotics.

Taking the above into consideration, we, at SAUFAL Inc., is convinced that Japan should very quickly deploy the countless numbers of unmanned underwater vehicles (underwater drones) in the entire territory of its EEZ, before any other nation do so, to protect its essential national interests. The national interests ate in the two folds. One is the ”National Security” and the other is the “Exploration of Undersea Natural Resources”. The latter is equally important to the former, as Japan will otherwise suffer from the lack of the natural resources for ever.

SAUFAL stands for “SAUF Architectural Laboratory”. SAUF stands for “Swarming Autonomous Underwater Fleet”. Everybody is already aware that AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) is essential for both the sea battle and the natural resource exploration. But we, at SAUFAL Inc., emphasize that each individual AUV is meaningless unless they are organized as a “Swarming Fleet”. It requires, firstly, the “High-level Strategy and Tactics ” integrating both autonomous actions and the actions following the commands of operational headquarters into one. Secondly, it requires the “sophisticated AI-driven Software” to enable it. And, thirdly, it requires the “unique Power Feeding and Information File Transfer system”. SAUFAL Inc. wishes to play a key roll as the provider and/or integrator of these three things through the international collaborations.

Tetsuzo (Ted) Matsumoto

Chairman and CEO

SAUFAL Inc.