Thales Australia and Saildrone to advance autonomous long-range, persistent undersea surveillance
Announced at the Sea, Air, Space Maritime Exposition in Maryland, United States, Thales Australia’s Thin Line Towed Array will be integrated with Saildrone’s Surveyor – the world’s largest unmanned, autonomous vehicle class in operation.
Saildrone’s high-endurance Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USV) coupled with Thales Australia’s newest evolution of the sovereign designed and manufactured Towed Array Sonar, the Blue Sentry, will enhance surveillance and monitoring capabilities for open-ocean hydrographic surveys and maritime domain awareness (MDA) missions that require persistent wide area coverage.
The USV, equipped with Thales’ Towed Array Sonar, will be deployed from shore to conduct autonomous underwater ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) missions for extended durations and in all weather conditions. The resulting enhanced and uncrewed capability, supports broader Naval Operations by freeing up traditional high-demand crewed assets to conduct other missions.
Drawing on over 50 years of Australian Towed Array investment and development, Thales’ BlueSentry utilises acoustic sensor technology trusted by navies around the world to detect, classify and localise surface and sub surface contacts. The Towed Array integrated on Saildrone’s Surveyor Class of USVs, is designed and manufactured at Thales’ Acoustics Centre of Excellence in Rydalmere, Australia and reflects recent innovations in the field of fibre optics and advanced hydrophone technology.
Troy Stephen, Vice President Underwater Systems, Thales Australia and New Zealand said, “Thales Australia has a proud history of exporting specialised Sonar and Acoustic products in support of one of our closest allies, The United States. Over two decades these products have spanned the fields of Seismic survey to Minewarfare and more recently Surface Ship Anti Submarine Warfare. This opportunity with Saildrone now represents the ability to expand that support to include our latest innovations in the field of Undersea Surveillance through the BlueSentry Thin Line Array system. The Saildrone Surveyor offers a unique capability within the field of USV’s and Thales looks forward to the opportunity of contributing to the impressive Maritime Domain Awareness capability of the platform.”
Richard Jenkins, Saildrone Founder and CEO said “The Saildrone Surveyor was developed to conduct long-duration MDA missions, in remote locations. Combining the BlueSentry thin line towed array with our most capable USV provides a game-changing solution for wide-area ASW operations. Saildrone is committed to continuously delivering new advanced solutions to our defense customers, and it is wonderful to be able to add this new capability to the list of Saildrone services.”
About Thales Australia
Thales Australia is a trusted partner of the Australian Defence Force and is also present in commercial sectors ranging from air traffic management and ground transport systems to security systems and services. Thales Australia employs around 3,800 people directly and supports over 2,051 jobs along its Australian supply chain. In 2020 Thales Australia spent $657 million with 1,841 Australia suppliers, of which 82% are SMEs. Since 2018 Thales Australia has spent over $1.9 billion with local Australian businesses.
Thales Australia has a history of patient investment to build advanced in-country capability across manufacturing, critical systems and services. Close collaborative relationships with local customers, Australian SME suppliers and research institutions combined with technology transfer from our global business enables Thales to tailor high-quality solutions for Australian and export markets, generating revenue of $1.6 billion in exports over the past 10 years.
About Saildrone
Saildrone provides comprehensive data solutions for defense, commercial, and research, enabling real-time access to critical data from any ocean on Earth. Proprietary software applications and machine learning technology transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence for maritime security, ocean mapping, and science. Saildrone’s fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), powered by renewable wind and solar power, are designed to scale ocean data collection with a minimum carbon footprint. Saildrone vehicles operate 24/7/365 without the need for a crewed support vessel. Saildrone USVs have sailed more than 1,000,000 nautical miles from the Arctic to the Antarctic and spent over 32,000 days at sea in the harshest ocean conditions on the planet.