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The Australian Department of Defence has allocated a third tranche of innovation funding to progress C2 Robotics’ Speartooth large uncrewed underwater vessel.
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The Victorian robotics and autonomous systems developer has been given the financial greenlight for the next stage of prototype development for the long-range, long-duration undersea operations UUV. The new funding will also be used to develop a container system allowing Speartooth to be easily transported and deployed.
Speartooth is anticipated to provide a modular, rapidly reconfigurable design with potential for high volume production, deployment, and manufacturing scalability.
“We’ve had the first generation Speartooth in the water since May 2022. That’s allowed us to rigorously test the vessel in real world conditions and demonstrate the long-range LUUV concept,” according to C2 Robotics chief technology officer Thomas Loveard.
“This latest funding will allow us to roll everything we’ve learned into Speartooth Gen 2.
“This progress would not have been possible without the close support and extremely collaborative engagement with our sponsors in Defence. Speartooth shows what can be achieved when Defence works closely with Australian industry.”
The second-generation Speartooth prototype will be a larger, modular design and incorporate many capability enhancements including longer range, Loveard said.
The vehicle will reportedly be capable of delivering militarily useful payloads for a range of Australian Defence Force users over operationally relevant distances. It has so far successfully conducted missions in open ocean and at significant depths, as well as more than 2,000 hours of “hardware in the loop” testing on a virtual twin.
C2 Robotics will next manufacture a number of Speartooth systems and commence a six-week, in-water demonstration of its range and endurance.
“We are putting the concept of the small, the smart, and the many into practice,” C2 Robotics strategy director Dr Marcus Hellyer said.
“By keeping Speartooth small and simple, we can make much faster progress than is possible for large, complex systems.
“Our goal is to rapidly deliver affordable mass generated by 100 per cent Australian-owned sovereign industry capability.”
