C2 Robotics continues with the development of its low-cost drone for Royal Australian Navy. The Australian company has announced that it will improve the capabilities of the LUUVacronym in English for Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, Speartooth‘Spear Tooth’ in Spanish, associating with Thales Australia for the integration of your Proprietary sonar sensor technologyaccording to The Defense Post.
With this technology, the drone designed to long-range and long-duration missions You will be able to carry out a wide variety of operations with greater safety, precision and reliability. According to the agreement between both companies, all components for the integration will be produced locally at a Thales facility in Sydney, Australia.
‘Collaborate with Thales, whose mastery in sonar and acoustic loads is world-renownedhas the potential to accelerate the capabilities of the Speartooth and its presence in an AUKUS scenario,’ explained the Dr Tom LoveardChief Technology Officer of C2 Robotics, referring to the agreement and the security and defense alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, AUKUS. The announcement was made during the recent financial year Autonomous Warrior Maritime Big Play 2024of the Royal Australian Navy, which took place in Jervis Bay this October.
This is the LUUV ‘Spear Tooth’
The Speartooth is a LUUV designed for long-distance, long-duration underwater operations. C2 Robotics states that Its modular and reconfigurable design allows scalability in manufacturing at a competitive cost.
The drone measures 8 meters long and has a width of 1 meter. Its electric propulsion with propeller allows it operate stealthily in all types of environments. Uses lithium-ion batteries, offers a range of 2,000 kilometers and can operate efficiently at depths of up to 2,000 meters in the ocean.
Speartooth features a customizable payload bay and a floodable hull. Additionally, it has advanced sonar mapping capabilities that make it a valuable tool for tracking and surveillance.
C2 Robotics has developed the drone keeping in mind the needs of the Royal Australian Navy. Speartooth completed its testing during the Autonomous Warrior 2023 exercise a year ago, and is ready for the next stage of development.
The partnership with Thales will allow your sonar solutions adjust their performance and cost to integrate into the Speartooth LUUV and C2 Robotics achieve its goal of offer affordable, long-range platforms that can be produced on a large scale in Australia.
Troy Stephenvice president of subsea systems at Thales Australia and New Zealand, said: ‘This exciting partnership represents a significant opportunity for develop Australia’s sovereign autonomous maritime capabilityleveraging the experience of an innovative Australian SME. C2 Robotics has been collaborating with the Navy for several years on the Speartooth and, in that time, They have demonstrated the maturity of the boat. We are very pleased to be able to support C2 Robotics’ focus on manufacturing scalability and its fast-to-capability ethic.’