Canada’s Kraken Robotics demonstrated its KATFISH “towed synthetic aperture sonar and autonomous launch and recovery system,” a scanning drone designed to sense mines and other material underwater. The KATFISH worked in conjunction with an uncrewed vessel, the SEFINE SISAM RD-22, that launched and recaptured the drone after the mission.
Kraken Robotics develops subsea imaging, power, and robotic systems used for defense, infrastructure inspection, and ocean research.
The demonstration focused on mine countermeasure operations, including the detection and classification of “mine-like objects” and the mapping of underwater infrastructure. According to the company, KATFISH produced sonar imagery at 3 cm by 3 cm resolution with a width of up to 200 meters per side. Data from the system was streamed to an onshore command center, where operators used mission planning software to review and classify contacts in real time.
“Recent developments underscore the importance of safeguarding critical maritime transit routes and underwater infrastructure, and autonomous mine countermeasure capabilities like KATFISH can play an important role in helping navies efficiently detect and classify … objects,” said Bernard Mills, Executive Vice President, Defence at Kraken Robotics.
Kraken said that the integration combines its sonar and launch system with SEFINE’s multi-role USV platform, allowing for remote deployment and recovery of the towed sonar without direct human handling at sea.
The company positions the system as a modular approach to mine countermeasures, designed to be deployed across different USV platforms. The drone itself can work with different crewed and uncrewed systems, allowing the smaller KATFISH to perform scouting and reconnaissance maneuvers while the larger vessels stay behind.
