SEA Provides Additional Hydrophones for Oshen C-Stars, to Enable Enduring Wide Area Acoustic Sensing Capability

SEA has been awarded a contract to provide additional hydrophones to marine autonomy specialist Oshen. The contract follows the successful delivery and initial installation of SEA’s acoustic sensing technology on Oshen’s C-Star platforms during a UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) programme.  

The additional hydrophones will provide low-power acoustic listening capability to a larger number of Oshen’s C-Star uncrewed surface platforms, supporting the development of a scalable, affordable, and low-signature sensor network.

The capability was initially demonstrated at REPMUS, NATO's largest maritime robotics exercise, with the deployment of a world-first ‘acoustic picket line’ capability.

The capability will also be demonstrated at the AUKUS Pillar II Maritime Big Play event, which will see demonstrations of advanced maritime technologies from across the UK, USA and Australia. At the event, OSHEN will deploy its rugged sail-powered C-Star micro-drones fitted with SEA’s hydrophones, to monitor target signatures from underwater assets.

Guy Hope, Business Development Executive at SEA said, “The successful integration of SEA’s hydrophones onto Oshen’s C-Star platforms demonstrates how our proven acoustic technology can be readily adapted for small autonomous systems to provide enduring wide-area sensing capability while reducing operational complexity and cost.

“The strong performance of the hydrophones during the initial programme has enabled us to expand the capability across additional platforms. We’re looking forward to continuing to grow our partnership and demonstrating new approaches to scalable, affordable and low-signature sensing and communication networks.”

Looking ahead, SEA and Oshen plan to further collaborate to deliver distributed networks of omni-directional hydrophones, to improve performance across wider operating areas.

The contract continues to build SEA’s contribution to UK and international wide-area ASW and underwater ISR programmes and operations, where its sensing and processing technologies – such as KraitSense – deliver underwater surveillance capabilities across complex operational environments.

The hydrophones supporting the programme are designed and manufactured at SEA's Barnstaple facility in North Devon, where specialist engineering teams continue to develop advanced underwater sensing technologies for UK and international defence customers. This latest contract demonstrates how expertise from the South West is contributing to the development of next-generation autonomous maritime capabilities, helping to strengthen the region's reputation as a centre of innovation in defence and marine technology.