Mr. Greg Reid reports

KRAKEN RECEIVES SYNTHETIC APERTURE SONAR ORDER FROM HII

Kraken Robotics Inc. has received an initial order of its AquaPix miniature synthetic aperture sonar (MINSAS) system for HII's new REMUS 620 medium-class UUV (unmanned underwater vehicle). Synthetic aperture sonar is quickly becoming the tool of choice for mine countermeasure (MCM) operations due to its significantly increased resolution and higher area coverage rates compared with legacy side-scan sonar. This order is valued at $1-million and will be fulfilled in 2024.

The end-users of these new REMUS 620 systems with Kraken MINSAS are teams led by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) working to identify areas of deepwater corals and other sensitive habitats for restoration activities following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Over the last year, Kraken has been working with NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) to integrate and deploy a MINSAS 120 system on a legacy REMUS 600 and to conduct high-resolution habitat mapping. Mapping these habitats directly through the high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) data greatly increases efficiency over traditional ROV (remotely operated vehicle) surveys. Kraken is looking forward to supporting NOAA with its cutting-edge survey technology and methods.

This order follows Kraken's recent on-site support team throughout the NATO REPMUS exercise in Portugal, where Kraken worked closely with three NATO navy teams (the United States, the United Kingdom and Netherlands) utilizing three generations of HII's REMUS UUVs. These three generations of HII UUVs were retrofitted with Kraken's man-portable synthetic aperture sonar (MP-SAS). The UUVs included MK18 Mod 1, REMUS 100 NGR and REMUS 300 underwater vehicles, showing the versatility of MP-SAS and its capability to be used across multiple platforms.

Higher-resolution imagery directly correlates to the reduction of false positives by both human operators and automatic target recognition (ATR) software, which, through advanced capabilities provided by the collaboration of the REMUS 620 and MINSAS synthetic aperture sonar, reduces the number of contacts required to be verified. The result is the potential for a significantly reduced MCM timeline.

Kraken's SAS products have been integrated into HII unmanned systems range of small, medium and large AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles), offering many opportunities to increase the mine hunting and MCM capabilities of many NATO nations.

The unique system design of the MINSAS makes it an ideal match for the REMUS 620's modular payload and battery architecture as it can provide both 60-centimetre and 120-centimetre array offerings based on the customer's requirements, making room for additional sensor or battery payloads as needed. Kraken's MINSAS provides out-of-the-box, high-resolution, real-time onboard beamforming which supports embedded ATR (average true range), enabling smart autonomy features such as dynamic mission retasking based on contacts identified.

About Kraken SAS

Kraken's miniature synthetic aperture sonar (MINSAS) is an off-the-shelf, configurable SAS that replaces high-end side-scan systems at an affordable price, while delivering higher resolution, range and area coverage rates (ACR). The increased range, resolution and therefore higher useable ACR of SAS over traditional side-scan sonar systems significantly expand the capabilities of naval, scientific and commercial applications. Kraken's is capable of two cm by two cm ultrahigh-definition SAS imaging at long ranges. Kraken SAS is uniquely positioned within the industry to bring this capability to the increasingly popular man-portable (small-sized) vehicle class.

Kraken's SAS is modular and has been integrated and deployed on over 20 different underwater vehicle platforms from shallow (less than 10 metres) water to full ocean depth (6,000 m). A modular and versatile sensor for seabed intelligence, Kraken's SAS is field-proven by being one of only two companies in the world that has delivered and integrated SAS into man-portable vehicles (small-sized), towed systems and deepwater vehicles. This ability to cross several platforms enables military customers to streamline their postmission analysis by having the same sonar resolution and ATR performance across their entire fleet of vehicles and mission requirements.

In addition to navy customers who have integrated Kraken SAS as a modular update to existing fielded systems, several unmanned underwater vehicle companies this year have made public announcements of their UUVs showing SAS from Kraken. These include America's HII (REMUS 620 UUV), Israel's Elta Systems, a division of Israeli Aerospace Industries (Blue Whale UUV), and South Korea's Hanwha (SAS AUV).

About Kraken Robotics Inc.

Kraken Robotics is a marine technology company providing complex subsea sensors, batteries and robotic systems. Its high-resolution 3-D acoustic imaging solutions and services enable clients to overcome the challenges in the oceans -- safely, efficiently and sustainably. Kraken Robotics is headquartered in Canada and has offices in North and South America and Europe. Kraken is ranked as a top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter.

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