What's next for the Pentagon after the Replicator programme?
Although the Replicator initiative has made several accomplishments, there are still multiple gaps to plug across the US Department of Defense (DoD) and its services.
Northrop Grumman is partnering with SeeByte to incorporate AQS-24B mine hunting sensor data into the SeeTrack system to enhance its autonomous target recognition (ATR) capability.
The two companies began their collaboration over a year ago and will be ready to demonstrate an initial release of this new capability during the Royal Australian Navy's Autonomous Warrior 18 exercise in Jervis Bay, Sydney, in November 2018.
The AQS-24B is able to scan the ocean floor at a speed of 18kt. The system uses a high-resolution, side scan sonar for real time detection, localisation and classification of mines at high coverage rates and a laser line scanner to provide precision optical identification.
SeeTrack is a mission planning, monitoring and post-mission analysis tool that can generate an integrated image from multiple sensors and platforms for explosive ordnance disposal and clearance operations.
Alan Lytle, VP, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman, said: ‘The merging of the unmanned surface vessel-based AQS-24B with the SeeByte ATR will provide international navies with a better probability of detection and classification of bottom mines than is currently possible with an operator-only system.’The product of this collaboration will be available for upcoming new mine countermeasures ship and payload programmes worldwide.
Although the Replicator initiative has made several accomplishments, there are still multiple gaps to plug across the US Department of Defense (DoD) and its services.
Cummings Aerospace presented its turbojet-powered Hellhound loitering munition at SOF Week 2025, offering a man-portable solution aligned with the US Army’s LASSO requirements.
PDW has revealed its Attritable Multirotor First Person View drone at SOF Week 2025, offering special operations forces a low-cost, rapidly deployable platform for strike and ISR missions, inspired by battlefield lessons from Ukraine.
Teledyne FLIR is highlighting the emerging requirements for 'recoverable and re-usable' loitering munitions across the contemporary operating environment during this week’s SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida.
High-performance maritime industry player Kraken Technology Group, based in the UK, has used the SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida this week to debut its K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessel (USV) to the North American market.
Red Cat and Palladyne AI recently conducted a cross-platform collaborative flight involving three diverse heterogeneous drones.