Systems from ThayerMahan and Thales Australia will equip the maritime drone surveillance fleet of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Ocius makes the RAN’s Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel (USV) for long-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. It has signed deals to integrate advanced sonar systems from ThayerMahan and Thales Australia on its drone boats.
The new agreements fall under the RAN’s SEA1200 programme to counter undersea threats. As part of AUKUS Pillar II the U.S. defence firm ThayerMahan will deliver 40 of its Outpost acoustic intelligence payloads with its TransparenSea processing software.
The Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) sensors and software can detect, localise and track contacts. As per ThayerMahan, in a recent demonstration exercise its systems detected, classified, tracked, and held targets of interest for more than 85 consecutive days and at ranges that exceeded expectations.
The USVs will also deploy Thales Australia’s domestically-manufactured BlueSentry thin line sonar arrays and acoustic processing systems.
The capabilities will support ongoing Australian Maritime Border Command operations in Australia’s northern waters, now a AUD$176 million Program of Record. As per Theyer Mahan the new deals “represent the largest volume acquisition of unmanned subsea and surface acoustic sensing packages by any nation to date, and establishes a new standard for undersea domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Ocius Technology Founder and CEO Robert Dane commented: “Different missions need different solutions. The Bluebottle is designed as an adaptable payload delivery platform.
“By integrating complementary acoustic systems from leading Australian and United States technology providers, we can provide customers with the most effective technology suite for their operational needs.”
Chairman and CEO of ThayerMahan Mike Connor said: “Our mature, autonomous acoustic surveillance can provide our allies and partners with persistent scalable maritime domain awareness and actionable intelligence at significantly lower cost while extending coverage across critical operating areas.”
And Thales Australia CEO Jeff Connolly added: “These sovereign arrays, deployed
on the sovereign Ocius Bluebottle platform, will play a key role helping secure our nation and
provide a persistent and adaptable surveillance capability.
“BlueSentry’s heritage is from our systems deployed on the Collins Class submarines, and
our enduring commitment to working with defence and our industry partners to innovate to
serve the national interest.”
Australia’s Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy commented: “The Ocius Bluebottle is a formidable asset.
“It’s already providing near persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance for Australia, having even remained on station as cyclones rolled through. And now, thanks to this new partnership, this capability will provide enhanced protection of Australia’s vast maritime domain.”
- You can read more details on the Ocius website and the TheyerMahan website
