RON Camera System Upgrade

Underwater Observation Enabled by Upgrade to COLLINS Class Submarine Camera System

BlueZone has completed an upgrade to the underwater observation camera system for the COLLINS Class submarine.

First introduced to the COLLINS Class in 2006 the RON II camera concept was created by collaboration between BlueZone Group (then UVS) and the Submarine Sustainment Group at Garden Island, WA. Looking even further back, the RON design was based on lessons learned from an early underwater video application for the Oberon Class submarines in the 1990s. BlueZone was able to undertake the design and manufacture based on knowledge from early Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) design and maintenance for the Offshore Oil & Gas industry.

Seven RON II camera systems in total were manufactured with the colour camera mounted onto the fin of each submarine and a monitoring and control unit installed in the bridge to allow for control of the Pan & Tilt functionality as well as for local viewing and recording of images. External outputs were also made available for routing of video to other internal submarine locations such as the sailors mess and Commanding Officer quarters.

In 2007 the RON III Camera System upgraded onboard electronics to contemporary standards, provided a Removable Hard Disk solution and additional hardware to support 8 camera inputs in total.

In 2020 delivery of the RON IV Camera System again resulted in “evergreening” of the technology that serves RAN submariners. The RON system now includes an IP camera solution and maintains fit/form/function compatibility with the submarine installation.

For more than twenty years BlueZone has provided innovative and value-for-money solutions to the RAN submarine fleet, demonstrating the capability of a sovereign Australian SME to provide effective support to Navy in the rapidly developing technology field of video.

The CS25 – RON IV CCTV Surveillance System is implemented as a portable solution utilising a ruggedised laptop and IP cameras.