SeaTrac Supports Task Force 59 in the Arabian Gulf

SeaTrac supported the U.S. Navy by deploying its USV to both Digital Horizon ’22 and International Maritime Exercise 2023 in the Arabian Gulf. SeaTrac’s solar-powered platform demonstrated persistent, long-duration operation and multiple communications channels, and the company’s team rapidly integrated and operated the vehicle ashore and at sea, contributing to the Navy’s rapid-development and unmanned-integration objectives in the challenging Gulf environment.

Years: 2022-2023
Operational Area: Arabian Gulf
Scope: USVs for Situational Awareness, Surveillance & Communications

Key Benefits

Months-long deployment
made possible by a large set of solar panels that enable it to support surveillance payload packages
Launch and recovery is performed easily
from a trailer on a standard boat ramp. It can also be done from a with a crane using the vehicle’s center lift point.
Large battery and solar array
enables it to transit under its own power
Multiple communication channels
including two cellular links and two satellite links, in addition to the Navy’s mesh network, providing backup comms and reliable command and control (C2) for the vehicle

Purpose

In an effort to adopt the "latest and greatest" technologies, the U.S. Navy stood up Task Force 59 (TF 59), the first U.S. Navy task force of its kind, designed to rapidly integrate unmanned systems and artificial intelligence with maritime operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet. The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses nearly 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. Geographically and strategically significant, the region is comprised of 21 countries and includes three critical choke points, at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab-al-Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen. With its high heat, challenging operating conditions, and high stakes, the Arabian Gulf makes an ideal test bed for such a use case.

SeaTrac is proud to have been selected as one of the unmanned providers selected to participate.

Method + Equipment

From the date SeaTrac was invited to the exercise, the company had approximately a month to build, integrate the payload, and deliver the SP-48 to Norfolk for air transport in the belly of a C-17 to Bahrain.

Once the vehicle was on base, SeaTrac sent a crew to set up and operate the vehicle for the month-long duration of the exercise. The team deployed one of its 4.8m SP-48s, painted gray for military application. It was outfitted with its standard situational awareness cameras plus a high-performance visible/infrared pan-tilt-zoom sensor and integrated with the Navy’s mesh networking radio to deliver high-quality imagery into TF-59’s AI-enabled command system, enhancing maritime domain awareness. The Navy selected a radio with mesh networking capabilities, which was integrated as well.

A container ship captured by SeaTrac on standard camera (top), and the same ship captured with zoom (bottom)

Results

SeaTrac's performance demonstrated its persistence at sea, large battery and solar power capabilities, vital communications links between seabed and space, and ease of launch and recover.The company and the Navy were also successfully able to integrate systems and show them on TF 59’s integrated control system. Though SeaTrac's SP-48 suffered minor damage during a storm, the capable team returned the unmanned vehicle to its normal duties within 24 hrs -- demonstrating the resiliency of not only the USV, but of the SeaTrac crew.

For the U.S. Navy, the use cases are dual: to use the unmanned systems to enhance maritime domain awareness (MDA), and to increase deterrence.