Australia Invests in Undersea Navigation Technology Development

The Australian Government is strengthening its nation’s ability to operate autonomous underwater vehicles with three Australian companies awarded contracts to develop new undersea navigation technology.

As part of Defence’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) Undersea Navigation Challenge, contracts worth A$7.2 million have been awarded to Phasor Innovation, Nomad Atomics and Q‑CTRL.

These Australian companies will design and build technology that helps autonomous underwater vehicles identify their position in environments where GPS signals cannot reach or are unavailable.

Navigating beneath the ocean surface is challenging because GPS signals cannot be relied on in conflict and do not work underwater, while technologies such as sonar can reveal a vessel’s location.

The Undersea Navigation Challenge asked Australian companies for innovative solutions to the challenge of autonomously navigating underwater. They needed to create small size, low weight, low power and low cost navigation systems suitable for autonomous underwater vehicles, which can operate independently for extended periods.

The Undersea Navigation Challenge is a joint effort across Defence, with support provided by Defence Science and Technology Group, Joint Capabilities Group and the Royal Australian Navy.