Contract Secures Deployment of Unmanned Maritime Surveillance Systems

ThayerMahan, Inc. has been awarded a contract to deliver dozens of Outpost acoustic intelligence payloads and TransparenSea processing software to an international defense customer.

The award represents one of the largest fielded deployments of unmanned acoustic sensing systems supporting persistent undersea surveillance and Undersea Warfare (USW) missions. These systems are exportable and production-ready, supporting rapid fielding timelines and a broader adoption of distributed, unmanned sensing architectures for undersea domain awareness.

The selection followed a rigorous, multi-phase evaluation that included controlled validation, extended at-sea deployments, and head-to-head comparative trials against multiple payloads under representative mission conditions. Testing focused specifically on detection performance, tracking reliability, system endurance, power efficiency, and integration with unmanned platforms.

During multi-month deployments, the technology demonstrated continuous wide-area acoustic surveillance, detecting, classifying, and tracking targets of interest at operationally relevant ranges. The systems achieved near-real-time delivery of actionable acoustic intelligence to shore-based Maritime Operations Centers, meeting or exceeding performance expectations while operating within the constrained power and size profiles typical of small, unmanned platforms.

Key factors supporting the selection included persistent coverage over extended periods, reliable target hold and classification at range, and low power consumption to enable long-duration unmanned operations. The platforms also required minimal modification for ease of integration, reduced operator workload and training burdens via an intuitive interface, and delivered rapid data to shore-based centers for swift decision-making.

The contract reflects an increasing global demand for scalable, unmanned acoustic sensing solutions that can rapidly be deployed to extend maritime domain awareness without reliance on traditional crewed assets.

“Persistent, wide area acoustic sensing requires consistent performance over time, which is why we spent the last decade perfecting our capability,” said Mike Varney, President Products & Engineering, ThayerMahan. “ThayerMahan sets the global benchmark for unmanned acoustic intelligence. Outpost and TransparenSea have been repeatedly validated under operational conditions, which was a key factor in this selection.”

“This award aligns with the need for operationally relevant, fielded capability that delivers consistent surveillance and USW performance,” said Mike Connor, Chairman and CEO. “The focus is on systems that work as deployed – reliably, at scale, and with immediate mission impact.”