• Maritime Security Matrix

The Maritime Security Matrix

The possibility of unauthorised access from the sea has up until recently been seen as an optional extra specified by only the most security conscious. However, in recent years, more and more effort has been invested in securing maritime assets against the actions of terrorists and saboteurs.

Developed for the protection of ports, harbours, vessels and offshore installations, Sonardyne's range of innovative sonar and acoustic technologies represent a practical and cost effective solution to identifying subsea threats.

Intruder Detection Sonar

Within the Maritime Security Matrix, Sonardyne's automated tracking sonar technology enables underwater intruders to be reliably detected at long ranges, classified and differentiated from non-threats such as pleasure craft, large fish and cetaceans.

Small and lightweight, the sonar technology can be easily deployed in a vessel or harbour environment to provide 360 degrees of protection. It can operate as a stand-alone portable solution for rapid expeditionary deployment around the globe or configured with multiple, networked sonar heads so that very wide areas, such as large ports and entire water-front locations, can be permanently protected. It can be fully integrated with an external Command and Control (C2) system.

Systems are now deployed and operational in America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia where they are protecting commercial property, strategic infrastructure, coastal zones, ports and harbours, VIPs and military installations.

 

Imaging Sonar

Sonardyne's new generation of sidescan imaging sonar with integrated swath bathymetry delivers a new standard of imaging for a range of seabed search and target classification operations. Designed specifically for operation on small, medium and large AUVs, the sonar increases the operational envelope of a vehicle significantly by providing wide swath coverage at high resolution whilst consuming very low power. This results in high area coverage rates and long vehicle endurance.

Onboard processing produces geo-coded side-scan imagery and co-registered bathymetry is available for onboard automatic target recognition and post-mission analysis. The imagery produced is designed to be of the highest quality possible from a conventional (non-SAS) sonar. To achieve this, the system uses several innovative techniques.

The image is fully focussed with 65 beams formed on each side. A 'back-projection' beam-forming technique focuses the beams on every point over a one inch square grid of pixels over the entire swath. Micro-mosaicing algorithms stitch 'tiles' together minimising distortion at long ranges.

Objects are displayed in high resolution, high contrast and minimum geometric distortion. The system auto-calibrates itself each ping cycle in order to compensate for any deformation in the array due to vehicle flexing, temperature and depth effects. The effects of multi-path are reduced by the design of the array.