My personal opinions and extracts on what’s going on in the Commercial and Military Sonar Industry and Sonar Applications in 2022 – 2023. For older “pings”, see 2021 Pings )))
China’s New Submarine Is Unlike Anything In Western Navies
2022 Dec: Chinese Navy’s (PLAN) overall submarine expansion has been towards larger submarines, notably nuclear-powered ones, this new boat does not fit the expected trend. It may be sophisticated, but it is also small. It does not neatly fit into the array of types currently fielded by other major navies. China is, it appears, doing its own thing.
Both yards are part of CSIC (China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation). This may be significant as CSIC has previously shown small submarine designs. Several were displayed at the 2017 Defense & Security exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand.
Of these, the new boat appears to be similar to both the MS-200 midget submarine and S600 coastal submarine. Our estimate is that it is closer to the latter, although likely shorter.
The 600t ‘S600’ was advertised as being 50 m (164 ft) long and 4.6m (15 ft) in diameter. Part of that length would be down to an Air Independent Power (AIP) system. If the new boat is shorter, it might be due to the elimination of the ambitious AIP system. Read More …
Discovering the WWII Secrets of the Black Sea
2022 Dec: This research presents the results of the biggest UXO survey project performed on the Romanian Black Sea coast after World War II, using towed sidescan sonar technology and oceanographic observations. The survey was carried out between 2015 and 2018 by the Romanian Navy’s hydrographic ship Commander Alexandru Cătuneanu and the Romanian Maritime Hydrographic Directorate
More than 20 minefields were installed during World War II along the current Romanian coast, totalling approximately 3,000 sea mines of various types (UMA, UMB, VICKERS, EMC I, EMC II, FMB, UC, etc.), plus more than 3,000 protection mines and anti-sweep devices, generally known as unexploded ordnance (UXO).
The Romanian and German forces launched these minefields using specialized ships. During the same period, an unknown number of magnetic minefields were launched along the Romanian coast by Soviet forces. Between 1946 and 1948, Soviet forces also carried out the first dredging operations, and a considerable number of mines were neutralized by dredging or shooting. Between 1946 and 1960, the documents studied so far show that approximately 600 mines and 300 protection buoys were destroyed by dredging, shooting or blasting.
LEFT: Moskva Destroyer RIGHT: Soviet Sciuka Class Submarine
Australia’s Future XLUUV Named ‘Ghost Shark’
2022 Dec: Anduril Australia’s extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle program (XL-AUV) was named ‘Ghost Shark’ by Defence in a ceremony on Sydney Harbour today.
The ceremony included the arrival of a 2.8-tonne ‘Dive-LD’ autonomous submarine at Anduril Australia’s Sydney Harbour base, which will be leveraged for rapid testing and development.
The Dive-LD has arrived ahead of schedule in a major step forward in the $140M partnership between Royal Australian Navy, Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) and Anduril Australia to design, develop and manufacture three Ghost Shark XL-AUVs in Australia.
The Ghost Shark program will deliver affordable, autonomous, long endurance and multi-mission capable submarines. They will be modular, customisable, and optimised with a variety of payloads for a wide range of missions.
The 5.8m long Dive-LD will be used by Anduril Australia’s engineers as a testbed vehicle to enable experimentation, testing and validation as it develops the XL version, which will be the size of a school bus. The ambitious three-year Ghost Shark development program will involve capability assessment and prototyping in record time.
The Dive-LD, which has a 3D printed exterior, can autonomously conduct missions for up to 10 days along the seafloor at up to 6,000 meters ocean depth. Like the Dive-LD, the Ghost Shark XL-AUV will be capable of a wide range of deployment options.
Seabed warfare is a ‘real and present threat’
2022 Dec: Seabed warfare has moved on from hydrography and mine clearance as the sea floor infrastructure has exploded in scale.
Seabed warfare truly began in the 1960s with operations such as the United States Navy’s Operation Ivy Bells, a cooperative effort by the US Navy, CIA, and NSA to wiretap Soviet undersea communication links during the Cold War.
Since then, the size of infrastructure networks on the seafloor and the dependence of civic society on these networks have exploded. Never-before-seen densities of pipelines, optical fibre, and power cables traverse the ocean, allowing data transfer in telecommunications and for energy flows the distribution of gas, oil, and electricity.
The security concerns are not in any sense theoretical. “There is a real and present threat out there today,” said Chris Lade, Saab sales manager and a former UK Royal Navy mine clearance diver, during a briefing on seabed operations at Euronaval conference Paris in October.
The damage to the Nordstream pipelines at the end of September is widely publicised, but less well known is the loss of a major piece of the Norwegian sensor system in January, one of four seabed infrastructure loss occurrences this year alone.
In November the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that it was prioritizing the procurement of two Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) ships. “The suspected sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in late September has brought these vulnerabilities in sharp focus,” said James Marques, associate aerospace, defence and security analyst at GlobalData, “prompting the MoD to speed up delivery of the MROS capability.”
First announced in March 2021, the first ship is now scheduled to enter the fleet in January 2023.
The MROS ships will bring deep-diving operations back into the mission set of the Royal Navy’s Hydrographic squadron, building on the capabilities of its multiple surveillance ships. Its inclusion in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is intended to advance British security by monitoring and protecting seabed communications cables and energy pipelines, and the ships are expected to carry Autonomous Underwater Vessels (AUV) for this purpose.
XOCEAN Integrate Side Scan Sonar & Magnetometer needs with new uncrewed towing capabilities
2022 Dec: XOCEAN are now ready to answer Side Scan Sonar & Magnetometer needs with new uncrewed towing capabilities. This new offering allows XOCEAN to further support the complete lifecycle of an offshore wind farm through delivery of high-quality marine data.
Royal Navy places order for first crewless submarine
2022 Dec: The Royal Navy has ordered its first crewless submarine from Plymouth-based company MSubs to shape the future of underwater warfare
Funded by the Anti-Submarine Warfare Spearhead programme, run by the Royal Navy’s “Develop Directorate” from their Headquarters in Portsmouth and delivered through the Submarine Delivery Agency in Bristol, this is the latest in a series of novel underwater technologies being brought to life to deal with the threats of the next decade.
The £15.4 million Cetus will be the largest and most complex crewless submersible operated by European navies, designed and built specially for the Royal Navy.
In just two years’ time the vessel, named after a mythological sea monster, will move stealthily through the oceans, monitoring hostile activity, listening out for ships or submarines which may pose a threat to the navy’s fleet.
At 12 metres long and 2.2 metres in diameter, the 17-tonne submarine can fit inside a shipping container and be transported around the world to wherever the Fleet needs it.
The unarmed battery-powered craft will be able to dive deeper than any vessel in the current submarine fleet and cover up to 1,000 miles in a single mission.
The Ministry of Defence of Poland Procures More GAVIA AUVs from Teledyne Marine
2022 Dec: Ministry of Defence of Poland has procured three additional GAVIA Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) for its next batch of Kormoran II Class new MCMVs
The GAVIA vehicles will mirror the AUVs previously delivered. The new AUVs will be equipped with the latest EdgeTech 2205 side scan sonars (EdgeTech, West Wareham, MA, USA) and BlueView MB2250 Microbathymetry Module (Teledyne Reson, Denmark), providing simultaneous dual frequency 600 /1600 kHz side scan sonar with gapfill . Inertial navigation will be provided by the PHINS C5 (iXblue, France) inertial navigation system (INS), aided by a 600kHz Pathfinder DVL (Teledyne RDI, CA, USA). Additionally, to enhance interoperability with other systems the AUVs will be equipped with C-Node modems (Kongsberg Maritime, Norway) for USBL tracking from the Kormoran II class MCMVs.
Belgian & Royal Netherlands Navies Prepare to Receive Robotic Autonomous Systems in 3rd Generation MCM Programme
2022 Nov: The next milestone is the Test Readiness Review of the Toolbox planned at the end of 2022, to ensure that when the drone systems are delivered in 2024, they will be operational, and compliant with the requirements and that operators and crews will be trained and documented to make optimum use of them.
The customer is involved at each stage of the qualification process of the tools and their Launch & Recovery Systems (LARS). Sea trials of prototype vehicles will take place in the next three months to test the new functionalities of the A18-M Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Prototypes of the LARS and the Inspector 125 Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) are currently undergoing sea trials to test all the required functionalities and to improve their operation.
The prototypes includes:
The Inspector USV 125, which has already been sailing for a year and has been used to develop the MCM Platform LARS system with Naval Group, A18 and T18 LARS systems and to work on the integration of new sensors including the FLS 5 Obstacle Avoidance Sonar;
The A18-M AUV for mine detection, including the UMISAS 120 Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS).
T18, the towed sonar based on the A18-M and its UMISAS 240 SAS.
SEASCAN MK2 is equipped with new high-definition cameras and forward-looking sonar allowing an automatic mission including transit, target relocation,
K-STER C Mine Identification and Disposal Systems (MIDS) equipped with new high definition cameras and forward-looking sonar allowing an automatic mission including transit, target relocation, hover and target destruction;
A Containerized Command and Control Centre (C2), equipped with the MWS (Mine Warfare System) including the UMISOFTTM suite composed of a Toolbox Mission Management software for planning and evaluation, Drone Control software dedicated to each Tool and Data Management software for data analysis and contact database management.
REMUS 620: HII’s New Medium-Class UUV
2022 Nov: HII has unveiled a new unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), the REMUS 620. The vehicle is HII’s second medium-class UUV, following the REMUS 600.
REMUS 620 is designed to deliver multi-mission flexibility at improved reach. “Retaining a forward strategic advantage requires the ability to deliver a multitude of effects from under the sea,” Duane Fotheringham, President of HII Mission Technologies’ Unmanned Systems business group.
The multi-mission flexibility is delivered via various capabilities including mine countermeasures, intelligence and surveillance, electronic and cyber warfare, and hydrographic survey. The main sensor will be a smaller SAS sonar.
“The software allows the operator to plan a mission where a group of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) and UUVs would collaboratively work to clear a waterway. The operator could task the USVs to deploy the UUVs and to then begin patrolling the area; once deployed, the UUVs would be tasked to collaboratively search the waterway for hazards”
RTSYS Partners With MIND Technology To Apply Automatic Target Recognition On AUV
2022 Nov: RTSYS unveiled at Euronaval show in Paris an implementation of MIND Technology’ Spectral AI real-time automatic target recognition (ATR) on the COMET-300 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
RTSYST AUV for Slovenian Navy
2022 Nov: RTsys, the French manufacturer of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) and handheld imaging sonar for EOD divers announces the contract signature with the Slovenian Navy for the supply of one COMET-MCM AUV and two NEMOSENS micro-AUVs.
These 3 autonomous vehicles will be added to the existing range in use of SONADIVE hand held sonar units and therefore will give to the Slovenian Armed Forces through its EOD Diving Department full capabilities for Mine Counter Measures from very shallow water up to 300m depth.
The COMET-MCM is designed to quickly and efficiently cover large underwater areas with both high-definition Klein sidescan sonar imaging and TV camera capabilities, by offering the most accurate real-time tracking and positioning of the market. Alternatively, micro-AUVs NEMOSENS, man-portable and modular vehicles offering the same capabilities of live tracking and high accuracy positioning would operate in very shallow water (less than 5m) for various scopes of operations like beaching operations, rapid environmental assessment or identification and localization of underwater mines.
“Delivering a new complete MCM ecosystem to a NATO Country is always a privilege for RTsys and confirms the attractiveness of our company in the supply of sea-proven ‘manned / unmanned teaming’ solutions” says Pierre-Alexandre Caux, RTsys business director. “Autonomous vehicles combined with EOD divers’ skills remain the most reliable and efficient combination to operate safe MCM operations while reducing the time of divers’ action in the water. It also makes sense for Navies worldwide to cooperate closely with one unique manufacturer, from their original clarification of needs up to final delivery, operational training, spare part management, and long-term support for maintenance.”
MIND Technology completes Sea Serpent ASW demonstration for the US Navy
2022 Sep: MIND Technology has completed a demonstration of its Sea Serpent low-cost anti-submarine warfare system as a part of the US Navy’s Coastal Trident 2022 exercise.
Sea Serpent is based on MIND’s commercially developed SeaLink seismic streamer technology used for seismic surveys.
Sea Serpent can be used for harbor security, maritime domain awareness, or ASW. It can be customized to individual user requirements.
Furthermore, this system provides a rapidly deployable sub-sea intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability from fully autonomous platforms, according to the company.
For the demonstration, the system was deployed from an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and successfully executed an autonomous mission to detect a realistic underwater target.
“The primary aim of this experiment was to demonstrate that the Sea Serpent is a viable ASW product that can be rapidly, easily, and reliably deployed from a small USV. We intend to take what we learned from this exercise to continue improving the Sea Serpent system…,” Rob Capps, MIND’s President and Chief Executive Officer, stated.
MIND provides technology to the oceanographic, hydrographic, defense, seismic and security industries and is headquartered in Texas. Read More ,,,
Seabed 2030: Almost 25% of World’s Seafloor Now Mapped
2022 Sep: The most prominent international effort to chart the world’s entire ocean floor, The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, has seen a significant increase in ocean data equating to the size of Europe this year.
The latest GEBCO Grid figure now stands at 23.4%, reflecting an increase of 10.1 million square kilometers of new bathymetric data compared with last year’s figure. This increase is equivalent to an area around the size of Europe and slightly larger than the Sahara – Earth’s largest hot desert. Read More ,,,
(Courtesy: The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Global Center on behalf of Seabed 2030)
Russian and Chinese naval forces hunt enemy subs during Vostok 2022
2022 Sep: Combat ships of Russian and Chinese naval branches practice joint searching and attacking mock enemy submarines within Vostok 2022 exercise.
Ships of the Pacific Fleet and the Navy of the People’s Liberation Army of China have practiced joint tasks related to searching and destroying mock enemy submarines within Vostok 2022 exercise in the central part of the Sea of Japan.
Ka-27PL shipborne helicopters conducted air reconnaissance using a dipping ASW sonar and detected signs of action near the submarine.
Crews of the Russian-Chinese detachment distributed searching areas and commenced to adopt anti-submarine tactical measures.
The submarine was detected by the crew of Aldar Tsydenzhapov corvette. The target ignored the attempts to get into contact and tried to abandon the location. Ship crew simulated an attack on the submarine using Paket-NK anti-submarine system, while Ka-27PL helicopters launched depth bombs at the target. (See article below related to Paket NK Torpedo)
The Corvette is equipped with the Zarya-ME surface ship sonar system, which is designed for undersea and surface targets detection to enable underwater weapon application and navigation security. The Zarya-ME consists of a Hull-mounted array and a Towed Array
The role of a mock enemy submarine was played by one of the Pacific Fleet’s Varshavyanka-class submarines.
Paket-NK Russian Torpedo
2022 Sep: Paket-NK is a newly introduced torpedo system in the Russian Navy. According to its manufacturer, JSC “Tactical Missiles Corporation”, it is a dual-mode acoustic torpedo intended to destroy both submarines and torpedoes in the near field of the ship.[1] The small-size torpedo is used against submarines, whereas the anti-torpedo against attacking torpedoes. Russian state news agency TASS announced on 13 May 2019 that the Paket-NK had completed its cycle of trials. Almost all surface combatants of the Russian Navy (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot, VMF) will be fitted with the Paket-NK anti-submarine warfare (ASW) system.
Why Some Whales Stop Feeding in Response to the Sound of Sonar
2022 Sep: In September 2002, a number of beaked whales were stranded and killed in the Canary Islands during a NATO naval exercise. It was the first time we started to get a real understanding of the negative effects of sonar sounds on cetaceans, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.
But why did the noise of sonar seem to affect beaked whales in particular, rather than other species of cetacean?
From early research we knew that feeding is commonly affected when marine mammals are disturbed by sonar, and some species are markedly more sensitive to this exposure than others. But until now the reasons for this differing response between species were unclear. So, we decided to investigate whether they were responding to human-made sounds in a similar way to their response to predators, as some theories suggested.
Most cetaceans are themselves the prey of another cetacean, the killer whale. Some species, including beluga and beaked whales, have few defence mechanisms. But others are safer due to their large body size, like sperm whales, or large social groups, such as pilot whales.
By tagging the animals with suction-cupped recording devices – which capture the timing of both sound and movement – we were able to monitor the feeding and movement of 43 tagged whales off the coast of Norway: three toothed whale species (northern bottlenose, sperm and long-finned pilot) and one baleen whale species (humpback).
We measured their reduction in feeding time when exposed to naval sonar – varying from one to four kilohertz – and compared it to their response to recordings of predatory killer whale sounds.
We found that both naval sonar and the predator sounds caused a clear reduction in feeding time across the four whale species. By contrast feeding activity was unaffected when we exposed them to the sounds of sea vessels without sonar or other control sounds.
Instead our findings indicate that risk from killer whales plays a role in driving the responses, and that adaptations to their predators can explain cetacean sensitivity to human-made noise. Read More …
Patrick Miller, Professor of Biology, University of St Andrews
Charlotte Cure, Researcher in Bioacoustics, UMRAE, France
Saana Isojunno, Research fellow, University of St Andrews
Romanian Navy Minesweeper Hit and Damaged by Drifting Mine
2022 Sep:
Romanian Navy minesweeper was struck and damaged by a naval mine during a mission in the Black Sea, the service reported in a statement.
The minesweeper Locotenent Dimitrie Nicolescu was dispatched to neutralize a drifting mine at a position some 25 nm off the coast of Constanta.
After dark, in continued rough weather, the ship was hit by the drifting mine. The detonation made a small hole towards the stern, near the waterline.
No injuries were reported and the ship and crew remain safe, the service said. Buoyancy and stability were not affected. The crew took action to plug the hole and to limit ingress of seawater, and their efforts were successful; an initial Romanian media report suggested that the vessel’s engines were disabled, but the service did not confirm a loss of power.
According to the Romanian Navy’s count, this was the 28th drifting sea mine found in the western Black Sea region since the launch of the Russian invasion; the vast majority have been found and neutralized in Ukrainian waters, but three have been spotted off Turkey, two off Romania and one off Bulgaria. Read More …
This shows the increased importance of effective Mine Counter Measure to detect, classify and dispose of Sea Mines of all different types.
Sweden Increases Investment in Underwater Ranges
2022 Sep: Saab has received an order from the Swedish Defence Material Administration (FMV) regarding naval underwater signature ranges.
In the naval area, these ranges are central to the measuring and verification of underwater signatures by naval ships and submarines. Today’s advanced sensors make it increasingly difficult to remain undetected. A low signature reduces the risk of being detected by the enemy’s weapons and reconnaissance systems. Read More …
Oceaneering Announces Freedom™ AUV Achieves TRL 6 For Pipeline Inspection
2022 Sep: Oceaneering announced today that its Freedom™ AUV, following an extensive testing and qualification program, has achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 on a 1-9 scale, as assessed by an expert industry group with representation from TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Equinor.
Freedom, a hybrid AUV/ROV system, is the result of a long-term collaborative relationship between Oceaneering, TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Equinor.
As a result of this long-term investment and effort, Freedom has now demonstrated to the expert group that it can carry out low altitude inspection and survey on pipelines of different diameters. The vehicle can track pipelines at between 3-5m altitude from the seabed providing high resolution survey data and at 8m altitude for reconnaissance and seabed mapping. Freedom’s control software includes specific behaviors to locate and maximize data acquisition value for burial, crossing and freespan events.
The initial configuration of Freedom for pipeline Inspection includes outfitting with high specification instruments such as Inertial Navigation System, Laser Scanning System as well as Multibeam Sonar technology to take advantage of Freedom’s unprecedented pipeline tracking ability and proximity to the pipe.
Freedom offers customers a new level of efficiency, providing significantly improved and more complete data sets than obtainable via traditional AUV pipeline inspection techniques at a significantly increased speed compared with legacy ROV inspection methods. Read More …
Latvian Navy to modernize three ships with ECA Group’s mine countermeasure solution
2022 Aug: ECA Group has completed the factory acceptance tests (FAT) for its modernized ship’s command and control (CC) system and mine identification and disposal systems (MIDS) for the Latvian Navy.
The system will soon be integrated into Latvia’s Tripartite-class mine hunter vessels (IMANTA Class) and the country’s navy will be the first to be equipped with a comprehensive drone solution from ECA Group, specifically designed to be fitted during modernization programs of previous generation mine hunters.
Under the program, the traditional mine warfare system is completely replaced by a new command and control system and a full set of drones, all designed and manufactured by ECA Group.
The A18-M autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is fitted with ECA Group’s UMISAS sonar, the SEASCAN mine identification vehicle and the K-STER mine disposal system.
With this modernisation contract, 10 x K-STER mine disposal systems, 2 x SEASCAN mine identification systems, and an A18-M mid-size AUV with their common software suite will be delivered for each of the three ships to be modernized. Read More …
SeaBat T51 Multibeam Echsounder
2022 Aug: The SeaBat T51-R is the latest addition to the leading SeaBat T-series product range, built on the shoulders of the renowned SeaBat T50 – but with four times the resolution.
The SeaBat T51-R brings on a revolutionary and industry-unique true 800kHz sonar which allows for surveys with the highest level of detail while still maintaining an amazing up to seven times water depth survey efficiency.
Besides the revolutionary 800kHz performance, the SeaBat T51-R also comes with a flexible 350-430kHz lower frequency range – intended for those surveys where extended range performance is required, giving you a truly flexible solution for all occasions.
SeaBat T51-tailored autonomous AI sonar controls, a SeaBat-unique innovation, provides reliable data and truly hands-free sonar operation – allowing for higher survey efficiency with reduced operator workload.
2nd Kormoran II MCM Vessel Delivered To Polish Navy
2022 Aug: Remontowa Shipbuilding delivered the second Kormoran-II class minehunter, RP Albatros (602), to the Polish Navy on 12 August 2022
iXblue SAS for Ifremer’s new 6000m-rated AUV
2022 Aug: Ifremer, the French Research Institute for Ocean Science, has received its new synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) from iXblue. It will equip the institute’s new 6000m-rated Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) dedicated to deep sea exploration.
This synthetic aperture sonar, the Sams-150, offers a seabed mapping solution suited to deep-sea autonomous vehicles. This interferometric SAS sonar allows for simultaneous real-time imaging and high-resolution bathymetric mapping of the seabed.
“With a swath width of 500m for a constant resolution of 6cm, our new Sams-150 sonar optimizes the compromise between the resolution and range of imaging solutions. Thanks to its interferometric processing, a high-resolution bathymetric model can be generated simultaneously with the production of the imaging data, thus ensuring a coverage equivalent to more than 10 times the height of water under the sensor,” said Bertrand Chemisky, head of civil activities at iXblue Sonar division. “Our SAS technology, coupled with an inertial navigation system and an acoustic positioning system, will ensure precise geo-referencing of each pixel, thus enabling the creation of homogeneous maps over large areas.”
The Sams (Synthetic Aperture Mapping Sonar) solution as designed by iXblue responds to the operational objective of significantly reducing the duration of operations at sea and therefore the cost of data acquisition. Following these same considerations, iXblue Sams sonar aims at optimizing the autonomy of underwater vehicles by seeking the best compromise between mapping coverage and energy consumption. Read More …
Anduril to Build Extra Large AUVs for Royal Australian Navy
2022 Aug: Defense technology company Anduril Industries has entered into commercial negotiations with the Australian Defence Force for a US$100 million co-funded design, development, and manufacturing program for Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs) for the Royal Australian Navy.
According to Anduril, the XL-AUV will be an affordable, autonomous, long-endurance, multi-mission capable AUV.
“It is modular, customizable, and can be optimized with a variety of payloads for a wide range of military and non-military missions such as advanced intelligence, infrastructure inspection, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting.
There will be three prototypes delivered to the Royal Australian Navy over the three-year life of the program.
Anduril will design, develop and manufacture the XL-AUVs in Australia. For this, the company has promised to recruit, build and retain a highly skilled workforce.
“There is a clear need for an XL-AUV built in Australia, for Australia,” said Palmer Luckey, Anduril Founder. “The XL-AUV will harness the latest developments in autonomy, edge computing, sensor fusion, propulsion and robotics to bring advanced capability to the Royal Australian Navy.” Read More …