MILAN — Thales Australia and Saildrone have announced a partnership aimed at delivering a new generation of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) capable of tracking underwater threats silently and autonomously over vast ocean areas.
The collaboration involves integrating Thales’ BlueSentry towed array sonar system onto Saildrone’s Surveyor-class USV.
The companies said this setup offers navies a low-noise, long-duration surveillance tool for detecting and classifying both surface and subsurface targets.
The announcement follows a series of sea trials off the coast of California, funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. According to Saildrone, the Surveyor operated for nearly 26 consecutive days during the tests, achieving a system uptime of over 96%. In maritime terms, “uptime” refers to the percentage of time a system remains operational and mission-ready.
“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,” Saildrone said in a press release.
Powered by wind and solar energy, the Surveyor is designed to perform extended missions autonomously. A fleet of these USVs, outfitted with sonar arrays, could patrol large ocean expanses while reducing operational costs and manned vessel requirements, according to Thales.
The companies believe the technology supports enhanced naval cooperation among the AUKUS alliance—Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The initiative aligns with the AUKUS partnership’s Pillar 2 objectives, which focus on strengthening technological interoperability and leveraging the industrial capabilities of the three nations.
While the system used Starlink and Iridium satellite links during testing, Saildrone recently introduced a GPS-denied option, allowing operations without reliance on satellite communications—further boosting autonomy and resilience in contested environments.