UK demonstration shows how sensors and C2 can protect ports from multi-domain threats

MARSS’ NiDAR C2 system and Wavefront’s Sentinel 2 Intruder Detection Sonar (IDS) were brought together to form the core of an underwater and multi-domain protection system as a demonstration of port security earlier this month.

The demonstration took place at Portland Port, Dorset, UK over three days in mid-June and included observers from approximately 15 organisations with 40 attendees from major defence primes and international governments and navies.

It included Sentinel IDS, Echodyne's EchoShield Ku-band air surveillance radar and Teledyne Flir M364C-LR high-definition low-light camera integrated into the NiDAR C2 for multiscreen displays.

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NiDAR is already used in ports. In February this year, MARSS announced the completion of the installation of its of protection systems at two more major naval bases in the Middle East. The completion of that work followed a previous base which became operationally protected about a year ago and another which was stood up before that. Systems for three more bases are being installed.

The scenario in Portland took the form of a boat approaching and repelled with a diver placed into the water to be detected by the Sentinel 2 IDS. This occurred while an ongoing surveillance of surface and air domains provided detection on an approaching DJI Matrice drone. In the scenario the boat was detected using surface radar and electro-optic sensor, the radar detected the drone and the sonar detected the diver.

Paul Badger, MD of Wavefront Systems, said: “[Sentinel’s] capability becomes even more powerful when interfaced with MARSS’ NiDAR.

“With NiDAR, we’re not just detecting threats – we’re closing the loop between detection and response, and we’re doing it in real time.”

The Sentinel 2 can be deployed as a static system masted to the seabed, a deployable operated from a boat or a trailerised system, dubbed Sentinel Expeditionary Trailer, deployed from land out to sea. It was the latter system used for the Portland Harbour demonstration.

The system includes the Simultaneous In-band Active and Passive Sonar (SInAPS) capability to identify and protect, at ranges of up to 1500m for mini-submarines and divers. It has audio detection in the 60-80kHz band which Badger describes as “the key band for man-made activity.”

Badger said: “We can hear a closed-circuit diver at about 800m with just the regulator ticking on and off. We can hear uncrewed underwater vessels (UUV), depending on the make of the UUV and the signature of the UUV, it is about 400m–500m.”

The active sonar detects divers at 1,000m depending on the environment and detect larger objects, like mini-submarines, at 1,500m and small UUVs at about 600m.

NiDAR is an agnostic C2 system which is designed to use any form of sensor and integrate data to create a single operational picture and in the case of the demonstration a live, layered defence picture aligned with current threat environments.

A key aspect of the system is Hybrid Intelligence, NiDAR’s automated detection, tracking, classification and response recommendation allows single operators to monitor whole areas without being overwhelmed.

Mike Collier, NATO business development lead at MARSS said: “[In the demonstration] we were conducting surveillance of the land, the surface and air domains.

“[This] meant we could then detect when a drone happened to be launched that was then coming in an attack formation towards the port as well.

“We were watching the boat using NiDAR and our surface radar. We picked up on the that with the camera, and then once the drone was launched, we were able to detect and track the drone using an air radar.”