Invaluable Networking Platform for Underwater Community
Returning this month, Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) 2023 – the largest global event dedicated to the underwater defence community – takes place in Rostock, Germany, and will provide an invaluable platform for all community stakeholders to come together, learn, expand networks and explore business opportunities.
Recent events show there are fresh challenges and threats to be confronted in the undersea domain; and success relies, in part, on bringing together the entirety of the underwater defence community to learn and develop new methods of operation. To this end, UDT brings together researchers, military end-users and professionals spanning the entire supply chain, to evaluate developing solutions in one of the harshest environments known to man.
The three-day conference will give attendees, including governments, insight into the progress being made across the domain, including newly enhanced and improved technologies, new programmes, and new equipment – many of which will be on display on the show floor, where exhibitors will display a range of cutting-edge technologies designed to support underwater operations.
Nautel Sonar will be showing its HMS sonar amplifiers and Tonpilz transducers, as well as its HMS transmission chain sub-systems, comprising all components from amplifier to transducer array, designed for frigates and corvettes. “Nautel Sonar is here to meet all your HMS sonar transmission chain needs, from amplifier to transducer array,” stated Steve Farley, Head of the company’s Sonar Division. “Nautel’s HMS sub-systems bring together our world-renowned power amplification expertise and 50 years of Tonpilz transducer design. Our designs bring ease of maintenance and reliable high performance, delivering the power where you need it, when you need it”.
Image Soft will present is latest underwater surveillance product, the 3Generation UNWAS system, alongside its existing underwater surveillance and navigational simulators. A comprehensive underwater surveillance product based on passive hydrophone sensors and highly advanced software to detect, track and target any underwater threat, 3Generation UNWAS is designed for undersea pipeline and cable protection, as well as wide area coastal surveillance and harbour protection. “Image Soft possess[es] a system that would have prevented the Nordstream1&2 underwater sabotage,” observed Tuomas Pöyry, VP, Business Development and Sales. “Our system has been in the water and in use for more than 20 years, and has been proven to work – real submarines have been detected and have been driven away. The most efficient, persistent and lowest surveillance cost per square kilometre of protected area – [the] system is based on [a] passive hydrophone-based system”.
Launched at UDT 2022 to offer a subsea sensing capability to the defence market, Forcys returns to the 2023 event with solutions from leading technology partners Chelsea Technologies, EIVA, Sonardyne, Voyis and Wavefront. “Backed by over fifty years of experience, Forcys offers the global maritime defence sector remote, autonomous and networked control capabilities that deliver integrated situational awareness to customers in the underwater domain,” commented Commercial Director, Ioseba Tena. Its solutions include Sentinel, the world’s most deployed intruder detection sonar to protect harbours, ports, and ships; IT 6, a secure remote initiation transponder to wirelessly detonate charges underwater for explosive ordnance disposal and mine neutralisation; and DiveTrack, a wireless tracking and monitoring tool to manage diving operations of up to 8 divers. “We are expecting to see the underwater domain become a theater where highly advanced crewed platforms will be supported by large numbers of sophisticated unmanned systems […] For this vision to become a reality, autonomous systems are going to need to understand their environment and communicate. Forcys, working alongside its technology partners, is ideally placed to deliver this capability,” he concluded.
Also exhibiting is Anschütz, with a range of systems and solutions that take submarine control, automation and navigation to the next level, offering a multitude of benefits to customers. “We can provide the critical capabilities like navigation, 3D steering control, tactical operation, automation, and data management […] Our offer includes both highly customisable and off-the-shelf submarine solutions for new-build and retrofit projects, and wide ranging and efficient after sales services […] Our solutions are based on our unique expertise in naval system integration, as well as on the insights in submarine technologies we [have] gained as a trustworthy and long-term partner for more than 100 submarines worldwide,” explained Dr Steffen-Hinrich Boie, Submarine Sales & Business Development Manager.
To register for UDT 2023, please click here.
