Undersea hydrophone contract
SEA will supply hydrophones for a project exploring an autonomous undersea monitoring network, extending persistent sensing below the surface according to the UK Defence Journal. The move signals growing investment in distributed acoustic sensing for undersea awareness. (ukdefencejournal.org.uk)
A hydrophone is an underwater microphone, and SEA is supplying them for a British project testing a robot-run listening network below the surface. (ukdefencejournal.org.uk) SEA said on April 9 that its sensors will go on OSHEN’s C-STARS uncrewed surface system as part of a ZeroUSV-led effort to build an autonomous underwater acoustic sensing network. The project also includes MarineAI and MSubs. (sea.co.uk) The network is backed by UK Defence Innovation, formerly the Defence and Security Accelerator, and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. SEA said the hydrophones are meant to provide “low-power acoustic listening capability” and help communications with assets under the waterline. (adsadvance.co.uk) Hydrophones matter because radio signals do not travel well underwater, so navies and offshore operators often rely on sound instead. An acoustic network spreads multiple listening points across the sea, rather than depending on a single ship or fixed sensor. (link.springer.com) Britain has been putting more money behind that approach in recent months. In December 2025, the UK government said £14 million in combined Ministry of Defence and industry seed funding had already been committed that year to undersea sensing tests and development. (gov.uk) That same government announcement said 26 firms from the United Kingdom and Europe had submitted proposals for anti-submarine sensor technology, and 20 companies were already showing demonstrators. The program, called Atlantic Bastion, is focused on monitoring the seabed and waters from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Norwegian Sea. (gov.uk) SEA has been expanding in this niche beyond the OSHEN work. In December 2025, the company said it had won a multi-million-pound contract to deliver 22 KraitArray undersea sensing systems for Liquid Robotics’ Wave Glider uncrewed surface vehicle. (sea.co.uk) The OSHEN project is still an exploration and development effort, not an announced fleetwide procurement. But the contract adds another piece to the UK push toward persistent undersea surveillance using smaller autonomous platforms and distributed sensors. (navalnews.com)
