Aquatic Drone Firm Dives Deeper with Two Major Alliances

Australian start-up Aquabotix is diving deeper into the depths of the aquatic drone industry and swimming with some bigger fish.

This week, the company joined the U.S. Navy’s Forward Deployed Energy and Communications Outpost program as a member of the Innovative Undersea Prototype Development Consortium. The consortium is tasked with developing “a forward deployed, open, scalable and coordinated undersea energy replenishment, data management, and communications infrastructure for undersea vehicles and sensors.”

In addition, the start-up is teaming up with the Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance, a group that identifies and promotes “issues that contribute to the national security of the United States, with a particular focus on thought leadership and technical innovation in undersea technologies.”

The two partnerships not only connect Aquabotix with the world’s largest naval force, but also with global leaders in defense, including BAE Systems, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

“We continue to execute on our strategy of leaning on our strengths in the defense industry and of close engagement with governmental customers, particularly the United States Navy,” Aquabotix CEO Whitney Million said. “Joining SENEDIA affords Aquabotix access that is difficult for non-members to gain. Our inclusion in this Alliance firmly bolsters Aquabotix as a contributor of the defense community and policymaker ongoing dialogue.”

The Alliance collaborates with the defense industry as well as the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.

So far, 2018 has been smooth sailing for Aquabotix. In April, the company introduced SwarmDiver, a micro-aquatic drone that can tackle surface and underwater missions as a single vehicle or in a swarm. In swarms of 30 units, the drones can dive on command and collect underwater data for surveying, aquatic research, surveillance and reconnaissance for military and commercial users.

In January, Aquabotix launched the Integra AUV/ROV (autonomous underwater vehicle/remotely operated vehicle), a second-generation hybrid, underwater drone that can conduct multiple underwater missions, while providing a cost-efficient alternative to deploying separate AUVs and ROVs for individualized tasks.

The Integra is equipped with configurable sensor arrays and can be deployed by a single user. Aquabotix officials say the AUV is ideal for scientific research, inspections or law-enforcement/defense ops.