ATLAS MARIDAN - Operational Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Technology

MARIDAN was one of the first pioneers in developing Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology. MARIDAN, founded in 1993, started with AUV research projects supported by the European Union that stimulated innovation in this exciting new area of underwater technology.

After having successfully launched the Marius AUV and Martin AUV, the M600 series was introduced in 2001. At that point MARIDAN became active in the subsea survey market. Having build up this long-term and successful track record on AUV development, production and operations, MARIDAN has become a top level knowledge centre for AUV technology.

ATLAS MARIDAN will continue its AUV activities as part of the ATLAS Group. Its primary focus will be on the further development, engineering and prototyping of the military and non-military UUVs - fully integrated into the total ATLAS product family concept.

A key element in the product concept is the application of a common technology baseline that makes the systems adaptable to both military and commercial standards. A modular design approach is introduced in order to accommodate a wide range of operational envelopes and payload configurations, depending on the customers needs.

The currently available M600 series will now be marketed as the SeaOtter MK1 in coming projects and is the ideal payload sensor carrier for military and commercial purposes, adapted to modern requirements with navigation and mission management software.

The new ATLAS MARIDAN AUV products for future applications will enter the market very soon.

UNDERWATER SURVEY, INSPECTION AND EXPLORATION MISSIONS

The SeaOtter Mk1 AUV offers high quality data. The deployment sea state is 5 and the recovery sea state is 6. The vehicle is designed for a variety of applications, including:

• Offshore oil and gas field surveys
• Mineral field surveys
• Telecommunication cable route surveys
• Offshore pipeline pre-lay route surveys and post-lay inspections
• Military surveys
• Wind park construction surveys
• Search and recovery
• Oceanographic surveys
• Data collection (data taxi)

SEAOTTER MILITARY AUV - MINE DETECTION, RECONNAISSANCE, SURVEILLANCE AND ASSESSMENT

The advanced version, the SeaOtter AUV (Mk2) is specially designed for various military purposes, strictly adhering to a modular approach with regard to superstructure, propulsion, energy, communication, navigation and payload. Its main tasks include:

• Mine detection and countermeasures
• Covert intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
• Rapid environmental assessment

NEW CHALLENGES FOR LITTORAL MINESWEEPING

With the shift in threat from a comprehensive, global conflict to small-scale regional crises most navies are concentrating on increasing their capabilities in littoral warfare.

The requirement for expeditionary missions with a maximum degree of protection for involved military personnel and the need for fast, focussed and reliable intelligence information present new challenges that call for new solutions, especially in the underwater battle space.

One of the main threats in the littoral environment, the naval mine, has to be countered by all littoral combatants, not only the dedicated MCM forces.

The most promising solution for this is the evolving autonomous underwater vehicle technology. AUVs are rapidly gaining importance in all aspects of underwater warfare. Their numerous advantages, such as versatility, compact size, independence, unmanned operation and covertness, make them an ideal asset for underwater operations.

In all these aspects ATLAS MARIDAN and its parent company ATLAS ELEKTRONIK show their readiness to present solutions to the current and future challenges.