Kristen Smith
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. and Ultra Maritime will combine their technologies to provide the United States and its allies with the capability to more effectively detect and track submarines in hostile, GPS-denied environments.
Under the partnership, GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aerial system will be paired with miniaturized, low-power sonobuoys and receivers, creating an assured and affordable anti-submarine warfare, or ASW, solution that could counter the GPS jamming technologies of adversaries designed to avoid submarine detection, Ultra Maritime said Tuesday.
Maritime Domain Awareness
According to GA-ASI, its MQ-9B SeaGuardian maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft could fly over the horizon via satellite for over 30 hours and integrates advanced maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to deliver real-time situational awareness anywhere in the maritime domain. In its standard maritime ISR and ASW configuration, SeaGuardian’s range encompasses a mission radius of 1,200 nautical miles. The UAS has an open architecture system, allowing operators to integrate the company’s sonobuoy management and control system and sonobuoy dispenser system.
Submarine Monitoring Through Advanced Communication Tech
Ultra Maritime said equipping the SeaGuardian with its small-form-factor sonobuoys, which provide multi-static active capabilities, will double the UAS capacity to perform wide-area search, while its new acoustic receivers will enable the drone to perform more effective anti-submarine warfare in GPS-denied environments by monitoring more sonobuoys per MQ-9B mission through advanced communications technology.
Beginning in 2025, the combined technology will be demonstrated in an integrated operational manner in the Indo-Pacific and other theaters.
