New Wave Media

Kraken Sonar Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kraken Sonar Systems Inc. has received a $1.5 million contract from an undisclosed major international defense contractor for a KATFISH sonar system. Along with spare parts and support, the initial order could exceed $2 million.

 

The agreement includes multiple stages, starting with a first phase for the manufacture and supply of Kraken's KATFISH system. The customer will make an advance payment on the contract in 2015. Approximately 75 percent of the contract revenue is expected be realized in 2016. Subject to contract options, the next phases will position Kraken as a primary sonar supplier to the Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS) market.

 

Karl Kenny, President and CEO of Kraken said, “This is a very significant award for us and demonstrates that KATFISH is a key objective in delivering on our ‘sensors-to-systems’ strategy. This contract further establishes Kraken's underwater technologies in the Unmanned Maritime Systems industry and positions us for future contracts on UMS platforms.”

 

Kraken's KATFISH is an actively controlled, intelligent towfish platform used to generate real-time, ultra-high resolution seabed imagery and maps for a variety of military and commercial applications. The system's primary sensors are based on Kraken's Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar technology, real-time Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) processing algorithms and acoustic velocity sensors.

 

While conventional side scan systems are typically limited in that they only provide high resolution imagery at short range, KATFISH produces ultra-high resolution seabed imagery with constant resolution to very long range, the manufacturer said. The additional information provided by the KATFISH system delivers a detection and classification capability that cannot be achieved with a conventional sidescan sonar. The entire system is designed to be quickly installed and removed from craft of opportunity platforms and is packaged for easy transportation.

 

Kraken's sonar and underwater systems are targeted to the Unmanned Maritime Systems drone market which is primarily comprised of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs). 

 

The future of naval warfare continues to evolve toward smaller vessels, littoral operations and underwater intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Kraken said. Advanced sonar technologies have therefore matured to support solutions that can economically survey and detect small objects hidden on the seabed and can enter into confined spaces where underwater explosives are likely to be hidden. 

 

Kraken  said the underwater defense market is evolving rapidly, responding to changing threats, tensions in the Middle East and Asia, economic and budgetary pressures and a growing eagerness by modern navies and developing countries alike to procure and deploy ocean drones such as UUVs and USVs. 

 

UUV technology has been used for many years, mostly for mine countermeasures, oceanographic research and oil and gas surveys. In contrast, USVs, the naval equivalent of unmanned aerial vehicles (air drones) have not been widely used. While the technology for USVs is in its infancy compared with the aerial drones, this situation is due to change, Kraken said.

 

Unmanned vessels, like unmanned aerial vehicles, provide military forces with reach and capability without the risk of manned systems. They keep the dull, dirty and dangerous jobs away from human personnel.

 

USV technology is maturing rapidly, and a number of USVs are market-ready, signaling a coming sea change in the makeup of the overall Unmanned Maritime Systems (UMS) market. Industry analysts Market Info Group LLC estimate that the global Unmanned Maritime Systems market will reach $11 billion (cumulative) by 2020.