Saab Announces Sea Wasp Underwater Anti-IED Robot

Sea Wasp represents a significant change in underwater operations against Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and similar threats by allowing bomb technicians to conduct an underwater intervention for both improvised and conventional munitions. The Sea Wasp is capable of relocating, identifying and neutralising underwater improvised explosive devices such as IEDs, and is designed to perform underwater applications. Underwater explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) is rapidly growing worldwide and the SeaWasp’s capabilities correspond to the requirements of any mission. The Sea Wasp can be deployed from harbour walls or the beach and is fitted to specialised surface support vessels, while flexible enough to be loaded into multiple varieties of boats.

Today, most underwater IED threats are manually disposed of by trained EOD divers. The Sea Wasp eliminates the requirements of manually disposing of IEDs, and is remotely operated by two-person teams, allowing for a safe distance between operators and IEDs. Saab has developed the concept from the robotic systems which are used to dispose of land IED threats and applied it to underwater missions.