Wave Glider Selected as Development Platform in Australian Defence Innovation Hub Award
Leigh Martin — October 15, 2020
Liquid Robotics channel partner BlueZone Group has been awarded 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 award builds on the success of earlier exploratory work. Under the Phase 3 contract, BlueZone Group and its industry partners Sonartech Atlas and Acacia Systems will prototype an Australian-developed sonar and combat data processing system installed in a Wave Glider unmanned surface vehicle (USV).
The Wave Glider was selected as the USV development platform based on its proven endurance and multi-purpose capabilities. Wave Gliders can stay at sea for months at a time, continuously collecting and communicating real-time data while simultaneously supporting a variety of sensor payloads.
The system being developed will comprise a Wave Glider equipped with:
- KraitArray™ thin line towed array sonar for detection of acoustic data
- Onboard processing of the data which can be classified and localised using Sonartech Atlas technology
- Tracking information produced by Acacia Systems algorithms that can be communicated from the USV and contribute to the overall ASW situation awareness
BlueZone Group has been a channel partner of Liquid Robotics for nearly 10 years, supporting the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet of Wave Gliders. Through this Defence Innovation Hub development project, we look forward to continuing to provide a technology advantage to the Australian Defence Force.
For more information:
- BlueZone Group: Defence Innovation Hub Award – Theatre ASW using Wave Gliders
- Boeing Australia: Australian SME selects Boeing Wave Glider for new anti-sub technology
