Australia is enhancing maritime security by integrating ThayerMahan’s Outpost passive acoustic surveillance system with Ocius’ Bluebottle unmanned surface vessel (USV). This collaboration aims to bolster monitoring capabilities over Australia’s vast maritime territory, which includes 10% of the world’s ocean surface and approximately 59,700 kilometers of coastline. The Bluebottle USV is currently being tested as a deployment platform for the Outpost system, focusing on missions such as detecting illegal fishing and ensuring border security.
The Outpost system excels in real-time signal processing, autonomously detecting, reporting, and alerting to threats, which aids timely decision-making. It is also utilized in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare operations. This integration positions Australia’s USVs as essential components in fielding distributed underwater surveillance networks, aligning with the AUKUS partnership’s advanced defense technology goals.
ThayerMahan’s Outpost can operate autonomously for over 90 days, harnessing renewable energy sources. Deployed from small USVs, it employs large passive towed sonar arrays for extended-range acoustic sensing. The Bluebottle USV, capable of speeds up to 5 knots and a modular payload capacity of 300 kilograms, features an intelligent networking system for coordinated missions among multiple vessels.
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