ThayerMahan, Inc., the premier provider of end-to-end acoustic intelligence solutions for unmanned systems, has announced a major contract award to deliver 40 Outpost acoustic intelligence payloads and associated TransparenSea processing software to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as part of the SEA1200 Program of Record. The award, delivered through ThayerMahan’s Australian partner and Bluebottle USV manufacturer Ocius, designates ThayerMahan as the acoustic intelligence provider for Ocius Bluebottle USVs supporting the RAN’s programme.
The Honourable Pat Conroy, Minister for Defence Industry Australia, stated:
“The Ocius Bluebottle is a formidable asset. It’s already providing near-persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance for Australia, having even remained on station as cyclones rolled through. Now, thanks to this new partnership, this capability will provide enhanced protection of Australia’s vast maritime domain.”
The contract follows exercises in which ThayerMahan’s Outpost acoustic intelligence payload and TransparenSea software demonstrated wide-area acoustic intelligence operations to the RAN. The exercise demonstrated system operations for more than 85 consecutive days, providing continuous ISR. The systems detected, classified, tracked, and held targets of interest, achieving ranges that exceeded expectations. These results, combined with operational performance, reliability, low power draw, and software user interface, supported the selection of ThayerMahan’s Outpost for the Commonwealth of Australia’s Program of Record — the world’s first large-scale deployment of unmanned acoustic sensing systems.
Mike Varney, President of Products & Engineering at ThayerMahan, added:
“Persistent, wide-area, over-the-horizon acoustic intelligence is an exacting mission, but it is also a capability that ThayerMahan has spent the last decade perfecting. The performance Outpost and TransparenSea demonstrated to the Royal Australian Navy, while integrated in an Ocius USV, supported this first-of-its-kind order. Our systems, software, and unmatched expertise in analysis deliver performance that consistently exceeds expectations and sets a new global benchmark for unmanned acoustic ISR.”
The Program of Record represents the largest volume acquisition of unmanned subsea and surface acoustic sensing packages by any nation to date and establishes a new standard for undersea domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region. It positions the Royal Australian Navy as a global leader in the operational employment of unmanned acoustic sensing systems to strengthen maritime security and national defence.
Robert Dane, CEO of Ocius Technology, stated:
“In an increasingly contested global landscape, Australia requires the most advanced technologies to address evolving maritime threats. The integration of the Ocius Bluebottle platform with ThayerMahan’s advanced sensing capabilities delivers a proven, near-persistent undersea surveillance solution.”
Mike Connor, Chairman and CEO of ThayerMahan, concluded:
“ThayerMahan is proud to be a longstanding technology partner with Ocius, and proud of the advances in next-generation maritime awareness that we have achieved together. This contract represents the latest significant advancement in undersea warfare surveillance capability. Our selection to deliver 40 systems for the SEA1200 programme demonstrates how our mature, autonomous acoustic surveillance can provide our allies and partners with persistent scalable maritime domain awareness and actionable intelligence at significantly lower cost while extending coverage across critical operating areas.”
