Thales Australia and Saildrone have integrated and tested the Thales Blue Sentry array and Saildrone’s uncrewed systems. The integration saw Thales Australia’s BlueSentry thin-line towed sonar array meshed with Saildrone’s Surveyor-class Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV), during a weeks-long mission conducted off the United States.
“This partnership and integration set the standard for future intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at sea particularly in sensitive and remote regions where traditional maritime security assets are stretched thin and have significant operational challenges," CEO of Thales Australia and New Zealand, Jeff Connolly, stated.
Saildrone has supported a towed array capable of waging long-range Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and AntiSubmarine Warfare (ASW), with the capability to detect and classify both Underwater Vehicles, and surface vessels in real time.
“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," Founder and CEO of Saildrone, Richard Jenkins, explained. “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.”
The Thales Australia partnership with US company Saildrone, and the new ready-to deploy capability, have marked a step towards expanding the scope of naval interoperability and autonomous maritime capability developments between AUKUS partners to deliver on AUKUS Pillar 2 requirements.