Wave foil technology is due to be demonstrated at the Royal Navy’s Unmanned Warrior Exercise Innovative this month, as the AutoNaut unmanned surface vessel (USV) demonstrates its capabilities for navies around the world.
Designed and built in the UK, AutoNaut is an unmanned surface vessel which uses the motion from the ocean to propel itself forward. The patented ‘Wave Foil Technology’ fitted to AutoNaut enables offshore deployments for multiple months harvesting data from the ocean.
AutoNaut has been working with market-leading sensor providers in the UK: Seiche Measurements has developed its state-of-the-art digital passive acoustic hydrophone array; Teledyne Defence its Phobos Radar Threat Warner system; Xylem Analytics UK its YSI EXO2 water quality and oceanographic sensor; and QinetiQ its real-time communications link.
Watch AutoNaut being tested in QinetiQ Ocean Basin:
AutoNaut does not have an engine – it is silent, so is the perfect platform from which to deploy passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) hydrophone arrays, providing a covert acoustic intelligence (AcInt) capability. All the energy generated by solar panels on the deck is delivered to onboard payloads, so a number of high-tech sensors can be persistently deployed offshore reducing cost and risk relative to an equivalent manned vessel.
AutoNaut Design Manager Dan Alldis commented: “This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the AutoNaut in a defence environment. We will deploy the AutoNaut into the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) theme of Unmanned Warrior, where we will ‘hunt’ a number of underwater targets in realistic scenarios. We will also provide a wide range of near real-time sensor data to the Royal Navy including radar signal measurement, day and low light 360° cameras and a multi-parameter metocean sensor package.”
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AutoNaut Innovation maritime QinetiQ UK Unmanned Warrior USV
Post written by: Julie Shennan
Features Editor of MOD DCB Magazine and MOD DSS Yearbook. Content Marketing Executive at BiP Solutions (Defence Online's sister company). Editor and founder of Artsnfaffs Online Magazine.
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