Through a project funded by the Office of Naval Research, Saildrone (Booth 1905) has integrated its Surveyor with a BlueSentry thin-line towed array from Thales Australia (Booth 1247), creating a system for autonomous long-endurance undersea maritime domain awareness.
Extensive sea trials conducted off the coast of California have demonstrated this system can effectively detect and classify both underwater and surface threats and report this information to decision makers in real time. During the ONR trial, the Saildrone Surveyor and BlueSentry system operated continuously for 26 days and maintained uptime greater than 96%.
The trials showed that, under wind propulsion, the Surveyor provided a near-zero self-noise environment, significantly improving the detection capabilities of the BlueSentry sonar system.
Using Starlink and Iridium satellite communications, the system is capable of persistent, secure data transmission even in sensitive and remote locations that have significant operational challenges. The system is also designed to pave the way for greater naval interoperability between AUKUS partners and delivers on AUKUS Pillar 2 undersea warfare requirements.
In an April 7 ceremony at Sea-Air-Space, San Diego-based General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (Booth 437) signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (Booth 1950) to manufacture a long-range, precision-guided strike missile for U.S. military customers.
The Bullseye missile’s modular, scalable design will allow for incremental development, interoperability and system component upgrades to meet multiple Department of Defense service requirements.
Bullseye is being built at GA-EMS’ Tupelo, Mississippi, facility and is currently at technology readiness level 8. Rafael has successfully performed aerodynamics, engine, seeker, launch integration and testing, and is planning additional testing for flight qualification and to prove operational readiness. Delivery of the Bullseye missile is scheduled to begin in late 2025.
