Acacia Systems, in partnership with the BlueZone Group and Sonartech Atlas, is delighted with the award of an Australian Defence Innovation Hub grant to develop a sovereign anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability to support the Royal Australian Navy’s integrated undersea surveillance system. The grant will enable our combined team to prototype an Australian-developed sonar and combat data processing system to be installed in a Wave Glider unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The Wave Glider, a product of Boeing’s Liquid Robotics subsidiary, is the first wave and solar-powered unmanned ocean robot. Under this collaboration, it will be equipped with a KraitArray thin line towed array sonar. Sonartech Atlas technology will enable the onboard processing and classification of acoustic data detected. Acacia’s Onyx platform will be deployed to provide advanced tracking and localisation algorithms. This technology builds on Acacia’s earlier technological innovations deployed on the Hobart class Air Warfare Destroyer and Collins class submarines. Tracking information produced by Acacia’s Onxy platform can be communicated from the USV and contribute to the overall ASW situation awareness.
The prototype represents a smart application of integrated technological innovations. It will enable autonomous, automated surveillance of wide areas for extended periods, sonar processing and tactical track management and reporting procedure. It promises to provide a technological advantage to the ADF as a peer capability alongside traditional platforms. We relish the opportunity to collaborate with our valued partners on such an innovative integration of cutting edge technology to provide a tactical advantage to the Australian Defence Force.
