ThayerMahan and Ocius Technology are combining their expertise to develop an autonomous undersea warfare capability for AUKUS countries, consisting of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The two companies signed an agreement to install ThayerMahan’s Outpost passive acoustic maritime surveillance system on Ocius’ Bluebottle unmanned surface vessel.
The collaborative effort will create uncrewed acoustic sensing systems for deployment to distributed undersea surveillance networks, Groton, Connecticut-based ThayerMahan said, adding that the technology will support AUKUS Pillar 2 projects.
The systems are envisioned to deliver cost-effective and wide-area sensor capacity wherever it is needed, it said.
According to ThayerMahan Chairman and CEO Mike Connor, the partnership will optimize Outpost’s performance.
“Together, we will help AUKUS nations know what is in the undersea domain, preserving their advantage in a changing and uncertain world,” Connor said.
The two parties announced the teaming arrangement as Ocius delivered two Bluebottle USVs to Groton following a demonstration in April that exhibited the uncrewed platform’s undersea surveillance capabilities. The combined Outpost-Bluebottle technology detected and classified undersea, surface and airborne contacts in near-real time during the event.
ThayerMahan stressed that its work with Ocius will also prepare Outpost for other maritime security, law enforcement and environmental monitoring missions.
In a related development, Jim Risch, a U.S. senator from Idaho, has called on President Joe Biden to certify the United Kingdom and Australian export control systems as compatible with U.S. regulatory measures and start implementing AUKUS Pillar 2 to achieve the security pact’s full potential.
