Saildrone and Thales Australia have demonstrated the integration of the BlueSentry thin-line towed array with the Saildrone Surveyor. This creates a new system for autonomous long-endurance undersea maritime domain awareness (MDA).
The integration of the BlueSentry sonar array with the Saildrone Surveyor marks an important step towards expanding the scope of naval interoperability and autonomous maritime capability developments between AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) partners.
Saildrone is a provider of maritime autonomy. The project with Thales Australia is funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and marks a significant leap forward in persistent, real-time, undersea surveillance.
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‘Eyes and ears in places that were previously out of reach’
Extensive sea trials conducted off the coast of California have demonstrated that this system can effectively detect and classify both underwater and surface threats and report this information to decision makers in real time. During the ONR trial, the Saildrone Surveyor and BlueSentry system operated continuously for 26 days and maintained uptime greater than 96 per cent.
‘The acoustic performance of the BlueSentry array, paired with a platform as silent and capable as the Saildrone Surveyor, represents a considerable step forward in undersea observation,’ says Richard Jenkins, founder and CEO of Saildrone. ‘The extreme endurance of the system allows us to put eyes and ears in places that were previously out of reach, at a cost point orders of magnitude below traditional manned surveillance platforms.’
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Near-zero self-noise environment
The trials showed that, under wind propulsion, the Surveyor provided a near-zero self-noise environment, significantly improving the detection capabilities of the BlueSentry sonar system. Utilising Starlink and Iridium satellite communications, the system is capable of persistent, secure data transmission, supporting real-time decision-making from remote locations worldwide.
‘This partnership and ready-to-deploy capability set the standard for future intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance at sea, particularly in sensitive and remote regions that have significant operational challenges,’ explains Jeff Connolly, CEO, Thales Australia and New Zealand. ‘The integration of Thales Australia’s BlueSentry onto Saildrone’s Surveyor-class, as a core component of its maritime domain awareness solution, paves the way for greater naval interoperability between AUKUS partners and delivers on AUKUS Pillar 2 undersea warfare requirements.’
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Network of autonomous surveillance assets
Saildrone and Thales Australia stand ready to deploy these systems at scale, creating a network of autonomous, self-sustaining surveillance assets to enhance national security. As threats evolve and the demand for persistent undersea awareness increases, the Saildrone-Thales system offers a scalable, low-cost alternative to traditional surveillance platforms.
Picture: Saildrone and Thales teams work to integrate and test the Thales array on Saildrone Surveyor SD-3900 (photo by Saildrone).
