Enhancing Australia’s Port and Harbour Security
Unmanned Surface Vehicles Beyond Human Performance
Australia’s ports are the critical nodes for exports and imports moved across the oceans. With a coastline of over 59,000 kilometres, an exclusive economic zone of over eight million square kilometres, and other maritime interests to support throughout the region, there is a limit to the resources to ensure the safety of Australia’s ports and harbours. It may be time to leverage emerging commercial-off-the-shelf technology such as Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) to take on the lion’s share of this vital security role.
The Port of Los Angeles has explored the possibility of using USV to enhance the security of the port. Port officials invited Maritime Tactical Systems Inc. (MARTAC) to visit and demonstrate the capabilities of their MANTAS USV. MANTAS is a high-performance, commercial off-the-shelf USV built on a catamaran-style hull, and comes in a number of variants ranging in size from 1.8 to 15 metres. A demonstration was conducted using a 1.8m (12-foot) MANTAS. The MANTAS (otherwise known as the T12) can be equipped with a wide variety of above-surface sensors (EO/IR/thermal video) and below-surface sensors (sonars and echo-sounders), as well as other devices such as chem/bio/nuclear sensors, water quality monitors, and above/below surface environmental sensors.
After observing the MANTAS remote demonstration, it was determined that the capabilities of this USV met the requirements for the wide variety of missions for the Port of Los Angeles. That said, port officials asked MARTAC to scale-up the MANTAS to a T24 and T38 versions. It was felt that the T12 MANTAS was so stealthy that ships in transit could not see it. Additionally, the larger T24 and T38 could operate for longer periods and carry additional sensors. The T38 MANTAS has now been demonstrated in U.S. Navy exercises, and is scheduled to be demonstrated in the Port of Tampa, Florida later this year.
Read More:
Unmanned Surface Vehicles for Enhanced Port and Harbour Security (501 KB)
Accelerating Innovation in Unmanned Surface Vehicles
MANTAS High Speed Performance – The MANTAS ballasting system and water-tight compartmentalisation virtually eliminates the risk of broaching. |
MANTAS Stealth Performance – “Gator” mode enables near-covert ISR for rivers and estuaries |
MANTAS T12 at 37 knots – performing beyond human capability. |