The sonar systems include fully retractable thin-line acoustic arrays (TLAs) which will be deployed to support persistent surface and subsurface intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) as part of the Royal Australian Navy\u2019s (RAN\u2019s) recent AUD$176 million Program of Record, as well as Ocius\u2019 ongoing 24\/7 operations to the north of Australia for Maritime Border Command.<\/p>\n
Under the Royal Australian Navy\u2019s SEA1200 program to combat undersea threats, Ocius has awarded ThayerMahan, Inc. a contract to deliver 40 Outpost\u00ae acoustic intelligence payloads with TransparenSea\u00ae processing software. ThayerMahan\u2019s Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)-capable sensing payloads and processing software will deploy in a distributed surveillance architecture that will detect, localize, and track contacts of interest, delivering data to operators and commanders. The collaboration demonstrates a practical application of AUKUS Pillar II, combining Australian autonomous maritime technology with advanced United States acoustic sensing and processing capabilities.<\/p>\n
To support ongoing Australian Maritime Border Command operations to the north of Australia, Ocius has selected Thales Australia\u2019s Australian-manufactured BlueSentry\u00ae thin-line arrays and BlueSentry\u00ae acoustic processing for integration onto Bluebottle USVs. These operational array systems will be deployed across the Bluebottle fleet, supporting long-endurance maritime surveillance to help protect Australia\u2019s borders and offshore maritime interests.<\/p>\n
Bluebottle\u2019s payload-agnostic keel, winch, and payload bay architecture enables acoustic array systems from different providers to be selected and configured to meet each customer\u2019s specific mission requirements.<\/p>\n
Bluebottles are manufactured and equipped with acoustic arrays at Ocius\u2019s production facility in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n
These contracts represent the largest fielded deployments of persistent above-water and below-water surveillance USW (undersea warfare) missions in the world to date.<\/p>\n
Quotes attributable to Robert Dane, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ocius Technology:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an increasingly contested global environment, Australia requires advanced and proven technologies to address evolving maritime threats,\u201d said Robert Dane, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ocius Technology. \u201cDifferent 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. These agreements reflect the strength of the systems developed by ThayerMahan and Thales for persistent uncrewed maritime operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur approach has always been to test technologies extensively at sea and assess them against real operational requirements. A rigorous evaluation process included comprehensive operational testing, including RAN controlled validation, extended deployments under representative mission conditions, and comparisons across four thin-line array acoustic providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe combination of advanced acoustic sensing, renewable-powered endurance, and autonomous operations provides Australia with a scalable and cost-effective way to strengthen awareness across our vast maritime domain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Pat Conroy MP, added: \u201cThe Ocius Bluebottle is a formidable asset. It\u2019s 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\u2019s vast maritime domain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is also a great example of a future made in Australia, supporting sovereign manufacturing, Australian jobs, and closer collaboration with our international partners.<\/p>\n
This is Aussie innovation in action. Just as when you see a blue bottle on a beach, or in the water, it\u2019s a signal to stay away. I want potential adversaries to realize when they see an Ocius Bluebottle, it\u2019s also a signal to get out of our ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Connor, Chief Executive Officer, ThayerMahan, also said: \u201cThayerMahan is proud to be a longstanding technology partner with Ocius, and proud of the advances in next-generation maritime awareness that we have achieved together with our proven autonomous technologies. This contract represents the latest significant advancement in undersea warfare surveillance capability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Connolly, Chief Executive Officer, Thales Australia concluded: \u201cThales Australia\u2019s high-quality sensors at the core of the powerful BlueSentry\u00ae arrays are made by our dedicated workforce in our facility in Sydney. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sonar systems include fully retractable thin-line acoustic arrays (TLAs) which will be deployed to support persistent surface…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13059],"tags":[5719],"class_list":["post-70030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-thales","tag-thales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}