United Kingdom News Archives

Ultra Maritime and General Atomics Announce Strategic Partnership to Revolutionize Unmanned Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare

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COLUMBIA CITY, Indiana – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and Ultra Maritime are proud to announce a strategic partnership to substantially advance the state of the art in unmanned airborne detection and tracking of enemy submarines. By combining the world’s most advanced and prolific unmanned aerial system (UAS), GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SeaGuardian®, with the world’s only miniaturized, low power sonobuoys and receivers, the strategic partnership will make it possible for the U.S. and its allies to use sophisticated techniques to track submarines in hostile, GPS-denied environments.

As adversary submarines proliferate and become stealthier, unmanned underwater vehicles grow in number and GPS jamming becomes more prevalent, the need for assured and affordable anti-submarine warfare (ASW) solutions is more critical than ever. While unmanned technologies are the clear best solution to this challenge, limitations to date in suitable ASW technologies have prevented real world solutions from emerging. This strategic partnership will provide a significant new capability where small form factor sonobuoys and receivers, aboard a long-range unmanned aircraft, can provide autonomous, low cost ASW in a GPS-denied environment.

The GA-ASI MQ-9B SeaGuardian provides unmatched multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISR&T). GA-ASI will integrate the MQ-9B SeaGuardian with Ultra Maritime’s exclusive small form factor (half size) sonobuoys to double UAS capacity. These sonobuoys will provide Multi-static Active (MSA) capabilities achieving unprecedented wide-area search. Furthermore, Ultra Maritime’s new acoustic receivers will be half the traditional size, making them ideal for UAS deployment. The receivers will enable more effective ASW in GPS-denied environments and will monitor more sonobuoys per MQ-9B mission through advanced communications technology. The solution is fully funded by internal research and development, and an integrated operational demonstration of this capability will occur in the Indo Pacific and other theaters beginning in 2025.

Ultra Maritime Showcases Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Improved Anti-Submarine Warfare Mission Effectiveness at the Combined Naval Event 2025

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With the increase in submarine stealthiness and quantity of unmanned platforms, the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission is more important than ever to maintain maritime dominance. At the Combined Naval Event in Farnborough, UK, next week, Ultra Maritime will present its unique technology using Artificial Intelligence (AI) as more than just a passive classifier, but rather used at every stage of the ASW command chain including detection, localization, tracking and automated tactical decision making. Not only can this increase the effectiveness of manned vessels, but can significantly increase the level of autonomy of unmanned vehicles.  

Along with a presentation on this leading AI use, Ultra Maritime will showcase the following at its booth #D36:

Sea Spear – New Lightweight Deployable Sonar
Introduced to the world at Sea Air Space 2025 and being used in partnership with Anduril’s Seabed Sentry to communicate critical subsea information in real time, Ultra Maritime will highlight Sea Spear, a first-of-its-kind lightweight deployable sonar system that enhances submarine detection capabilities rapidly and inexpensively. Sea Spear provides a solution for long endurance and long-range surveillance capability and threat monitoring during a time when anti-submarine warfare matters more than ever. Deployable from manned or unmanned surface and underwater platforms, the 21-inch diameter unit expands to create a high-performance, wide-aperture array. Already well into its development phase and in-water testing, full operational demonstration will occur in 2025.

Next Generation Sonobuoys
Ultra Maritime is delivering a new generation of sonobuoys, making significant investments that have fully qualified three new sonobuoy models with two additional qualifications in 2025, and towards creating the factory of the future configured specifically for sonobuoys and made to achieve reliable delivery at the production rate demands of the global market. The new buoys will revolutionize submarine detection technology with unprecedented predictability and detection capabilities, including enhanced battery technology that extends the operational lifespan of active buoys. This breakthrough provides allied navies with a critical edge in undersea warfare, elevating defense operations to a new level of performance.

Ultra Maritime Mission Pod – Containerized Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)
The Ultra Maritime Mission Pod is an extensive advancement in towed array packaging technology that enables smaller manned and unmanned surface vessels to greatly increase their anti-submarine warfare capabilities. This game-changing system houses and deploys towed arrays from a 20-foot ISO container, achieving a genuine modular, flexible and scalable solution for any Navy. The Ultra Maritime Mission Pod allows for ASW capabilities without the need for traditional, large, expensive manned surface combatant platforms.

Surface Ship Torpedo Defense
Ultra Maritime has made significant investment towards creating a complete layered torpedo defense solution comprised of multiple strategies and systems working together to detect and neutralize incoming torpedo threats. This next generation torpedo defense capability combines expendable countermeasures, both soft and hard kill, with towed detection and countermeasures, ensuring the safety of naval vessels from torpedo attacks. This integrated approach to torpedo defense is critical to address the growing submarine threat by significantly improving our survivability and drastically shortening the kill chain for an inbound threat.

WHEN: May 20-22, 2025

WHERE: Booth #D36, Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre

Ultra Maritime Collaborates with the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde to Evaluate Next Generation Materials for Underwater Sensing

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London, U.K. – Ultra Maritime is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde though the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Ultrasonic Engineering (FUSE CDT), a UK Research and Innovation program. The research focuses on the evaluation of novel ceramic materials, targeted at Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Torpedo Defense applications. These materials will enable an increase in source levels for active sonars as well as an increase in sensitivity for passive sonars, both of which are critical in developing the next generation of ASW solutions.

 “We are very excited to announce our relationship with FUSE and looking forward to rapidly transitioning this exciting research into Ultra Maritime’s portfolio of ASW and Torpedo Defense systems,” said Andrew Anderson, Ultra Maritime Chief Technology Officer. “This is a great example of where Ultra Maritime is investing in fundamental research to advance UK defence industrial capability.”

Professor Sandy Cochran, of the University of Glasgow, is co-director of FUSE CDT. He said, “It’s great to be working with Ultra Maritime through our world-leading FUSE CDT. The technical excellence of Ultra Maritime matches our own and the materials on which we’re working together will undoubtedly be extremely important for ASW and Torpedo Defense in an increasingly uncertain global environment.”

Ultra Maritime is committed to providing world-leading undersea warfare solutions for today’s missions while developing tomorrow’s technological advances. Ultra Maritime is proud to maintain the highest levels of investment in future ASW technology, and this collaboration is another step in maritime domain advantage for allied navies.  

French Navy Atlantique 2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

Ultra Maritime to Enhance ASW capabilities of Marine Nationale in France

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COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. – Ultra Maritime continues to expand its growing list of customers for the next generation of sonobuoy technologies, and is proud to announce a significant multi-product award from Thales Group in support of Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA), the French Government’s defense procurement and technology agency. DGA will be procuring both active and passive sonobuoys, including some of the latest technologies from Ultra Maritime’s new U.S. production lines, that together will provide significant anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities.

As undersea domain awareness becomes increasingly critical, and submarine and uncrewed threats more and more stealthy, enhancements in sonobuoy performance make the difference between detecting an undersea threat and missing it. Following several years of development and recapitalization, Ultra Maritime now offers multiple fully qualified, volume production sonobuoys manufactured in plants in the U.S., Canada and UK, that together address the world’s most demanding ASW needs. Ultra Maritime, through Thales, will provide the Marine nationale with an enhanced ASW capability and an increased probability of detection of undersea threats.

Ultra Maritime will be supplying newly designed and qualified U.S.-built AN/SSQ 62E DICASS and AN/SSQ 53G DIFAR sonobuoys. These sonobuoys offer significant performance improvements and are equipped with cutting-edge battery technology which nearly doubles the operational life of the active sonobuoys and augments their acoustic output, while providing precise detection, localization and classification, ensuring reliability of outcomes in critical defense operations. Ultra Maritime will also supply G-size AN/SSQ 536G Bathythermal buoys from its Canadian site in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. G-size sonobuoys deliver advanced sonobuoy technology in a more compact form, ideal for rotary wing and Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) operations where minimizing payload dimensions and mass are important factors.

Ultra Maritime Passes Preliminary Design Review for Next Generation Multistatic Active Receive Sonobuoy

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London, UK – Ultra Maritime has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review for the Multistatic Active Receive Sonobuoy (MSARS) as part of a UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) funded research and development program. MSARS is a next generation small form factor G-Size sonobuoy which will significantly improve the multistatic detection and localization performance compared to current multistatic sonobuoy technologies.

MSARS has been specifically designed to operate from Rotary Wing and Fixed Wing Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS), as well as from crewed platforms. It includes a patented interface technology to allow the platform’s mission system to directly program sonobuoys prior to launch.

This work is aligned to the Royal Navy’s Proteus UAS program and supports the Royal Navy’s Maritime Aviation Transformation strategy, which includes sonobuoy dispensing and data relay capabilities for Tier 1-2 UAS.

“Navies around the world are increasingly evaluating and adopting uncrewed air, surface and underwater platforms to conduct anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to assist their existing crewed platforms. Ultra Maritime is focused on developing and deploying world-leading ASW payloads for all these platform types. The MSARS development is an important part of the airborne element, alongside our significant internal investments in sonobuoy receivers, networking of ASW sensors and AI-assisted processing / tactical decision making,” said Andrew Anderson, Ultra Maritime Chief Technology Officer.

Ultra Maritime Collaborates with University of Liverpool to Develop Artificial Intelligence for Passive Sonar

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London, U.K. – Ultra Maritime is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Distributed Algorithms at the University of Liverpool, a UK Research and Innovation funded programme. The research focuses on using machine learning to improve the tracking and detection of vessels using passive sonar, targeted at Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Torpedo Defence applications.

The initial work has shown promising results in improving the detection performance compared to traditional processing techniques, allowing Operators and Automatic Classifiers to extract signals from further into the noise as well as improving tracking performance.

“We are very excited to further develop our relationship with the University of Liverpool, who are recognized leaders in Autonomy and Distributed Algorithms,” said Andrew Anderson, Ultra Maritime Chief Technology Officer. “AI/ML technologies will provide disruptive benefits to many aspects of the ASW mission, and we are looking forward to rapidly transitioning this exciting research into Ultra Maritime’s portfolio of ASW and Torpedo Defense systems.”

Professor Simon Maskell, Director of the CDT at the University of Liverpool, commented: “The CDT seeks to train students to become future leaders with a valuable combination of skills that is otherwise hard to find in a single person. Indeed, we aim to help those students acquire a synergistic understanding of both next-generation AI/ML and future computing together with a well-honed ability to solve pressing real-world problems. It is a real pleasure to see one of those students capitalizing on the training environment provided by the CDT to work closely in partnership with Ultra Maritime to make a difference in this important context.”

Ultra Maritime prides itself on investing in the future of undersea warfare solutions for allied navies worldwide. This collaboration continues to build on those investments, providing next-generation, technologically advanced AI/ML solutions for maritime domain dominance.

Next Generation Sonobuoys - Ultra Maritime

Ultra Maritime Receives £18 Million Contract for Sonobuoys from the UK Ministry of Defence

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GREENFORD, UK– Ultra Maritime announces an £18 million contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply sonobuoys to the Royal Navy’s Merlin Maritime Patrol Helicopter. Sonobuoys are a critical element of the UK’s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability, delivering undersea domain awareness and enabling the Royal Navy to protect UK home waters, the UK’s Continuous at Sea Deterrent and the Carrier Strike Group.  

The contract for sonobuoy engineering, manufacturing, logistics and support awarded to Ultra Maritime ensures the Royal Navy maintains a persistent ASW surveillance capability detecting, locating and tracking hostile submarines, and signifies the Royal Navy’s confidence in Ultra Maritime for this critical capability. 

“Ultra Maritime’s support to the Royal Navy’s critical mission is at the heart of our business as the world’s leading provider of sonobuoy and ASW solutions,” said Wayne Clifton, Vice President and General Manager of Ultra Maritime UK. “This investment by the MoD enables the UK’s armed forces to deal with modern and evolving submarine threats. Ultra Maritime is investing in a new state-of-the-art facility which will enable the production of sonobuoys to be scaled when required, whilst also allowing for further ASW capabilities to be manufactured and supported.”

Ultra Maritime is continuing to work closely with the UK MoD on the design of miniature sonobuoys for unmanned aircraft system (UAS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, signifying a commitment to a long-term partnership with Ultra Maritime for the supply of this essential capability.

Ultra Maritime is investing significantly in UK infrastructure and jobs to support the Royal Navy’s ongoing needs, and this contract will result in the creation of new high skilled roles in Ultra Maritime’s London-based facilities. 

Esco Acquires SMaP

ESCO Technologies Acquires Ultra Maritime SMaP

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ESCO Technologies announced yesterday the acquisition of Ultra Maritime’s Signature Management and Power (SMaP) line of business. Ultra Maritime would like to recognize the SMaP team for their innovative work, unique expertise and dedication to meeting commitments. SMaP has become a recognized industry leader for some of the most mission-critical submarine and surface ship technologies in both the UK and U.S. Leadership at both ESCO and Ultra Maritime have remarked that the success of SMaP is due to the people who show up every day. As the process to final closing moves ahead, Ultra Maritime sends our sincere appreciation to the entire SMaP team for all they have done for our customers and business, and acknowledge their bright future delivering for customers’ missions as a key part of ESCO Technologies.

Read the full press release at
https://investor.escotechnologies.com/news-releases/news-release-details/esco-announces-acquisition-navy-supplier

MADOC sonobuoy contract

Ultra Awarded MADOC Next Generation Sonobuoy Contract

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Columbia City, IN: Ultra Sonobuoy Systems (Ultra) has been selected as a qualified vendor for a Multiple Award Delivery Order Contract (MADOC). This contract will provide a vehicle for Ultra to supply the U.S. Navy (USN) with next-generation sonobuoys for the next five years.   The USN Navy purchases roughly $300 million a year in sonobuoys. Ultra is the world’s leader in providing more than 200,000 sonobuoys to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other navies around the world.

Ultra has a well-established history of providing best-in-class sonobuoys to the USN and its international allies. This award reflects the USN’s continued trust in Ultras’ ability to continue to develop, produce and deliver world-class products that are used every day to ‘Find, Fix and Finish’ the threat. Ultra remains committed to reducing the cost of ‘washing water’ to the USN and its Allies across the entire anti-submarine warfare mission profiles.

Eric Webster, President of Ultra Sonobuoy Systems, commented: “We are very excited to be chosen by the U.S. Navy to provide next-generation sonobuoys to support the fleet. With conflicts increasing with our near-peer rivals, the importance of anti-submarine warfare and the need for greater quantities of increasingly more capable sonobuoys continues to grow. I am extremely proud of the Ultra team’s focus to deliver innovative solutions and ensure continuity of supply to the U.S. Navy.”

NAVAIR Public Release 2022-588 Distribution Statement A – Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.