Anduril Introduces Seabed Sentry undersea sensor network

Californian company Anduril Industries has launched Seabed Sentry, an AI-enabled, mobile, undersea network of sensor nodes linked by undisclosed means for persistent monitoring and real time communication. Seabed Sentry uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide highly accurate, persistent autonomous awareness on the seafloor for commercial and military customers, said the company in a statement.

Unlike fixed seafloor surveillance systems which are expensive to place and maintain, Seabed Sentry is a network of ‘cable-less’ deep-sea nodes that sense, process, and communicate critical subsea information at the edge in real time, says Anduril.

The Australian Department of Defence announced a project in the 2020 Force Structure Plan to acquire an Integrated Undersea Surveillance System at a cost of between $5 and $7.4 billion. This project was quietly dropped following the release last year of the National Defence Strategy (NDS) and analysts have since charged that this was done to free up money in a constrained budget for the conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines to be acquired under AUKUS Pillar 1. While the project no longer seems to exist the requirement for such a thing has never disappeared and is growing stronger.

Seabed Sentry is powered by Anduril’s Lattice OS software platform and integrates with the company’s Dive family of Large and Extra-Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (L and XL-AUV). It will contribute to a comprehensive, intelligent network of maritime capabilities that enables operators to quickly sense, analyse and then respond across the undersea battlespace, at a fraction of the cost of legacy options, the company says.

Surface and air vehicles can operate with clear lines of sight and reliable connectivity, but the ocean is vast and opaque, leaving current autonomous subsea sensing and communications technology operating slowly in silos, Anduril explains.

Seabed Sentry fills connectivity and perception gaps, says the company, enabling maritime awareness and kill chains in ways not currently possible without high expense. It will use Massachusetts-based Ultra Maritime’s Sea Spear sonar system. Sea Spear is a first-of-its-kind lightweight deployable sonar system that its manufacturer says enhances submarine detection capabilities rapidly and inexpensively.

Sea Spear is designed for long endurance and long-range surveillance capability and threat monitoring. Deployable from crewed or uncrewed surface and underwater platforms, the 21-inch (533mm) diameter unit expands to create a high-performance, wide-aperture sonar array. Already well into its development phase and in-water testing, full operational demonstration will occur in 2025, says Ultra Maritime.

With an endurance of months or years, a depth rating exceeding 500m, a payload capacity of over 0.5m³, and a modular, reusable design, Seabed Sentry is built to surpass existing seabed surveillance solutions. It offers operators greater flexibility and capability in even the most challenging underwater environments, claims Anduril.

Powered by the Lattice AI software platform and able to support several payload variations, Seabed Sentry can be deployed by AUVs to form a defensive grid, supporting the protection of key maritime regions and infrastructure. It has an open systems architecture for rapid integration of first or third-party sensors and payloads customized to commercial or defence missions including seabed survey, marine pattern of life building, port security, critical infrastructure protection, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare.