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Troy Duggan has been appointed as the new chief executive officer for Australian robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence developer C2 Robotics.
C2 Robotics has previously made waves with the display of its Speartooth large uncrewed underwater vessel launching an electro-optically guided quadcopter uncrewed aerial vehicle at the recent Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition held at the ICC Sydney in November last year.
“I am pleased and honoured to share that I have been appointed chief executive officer of C2 Robotics,” Duggan said.
“After a career culminating in commanding complex naval platforms, this transition ostensibly feels natural and timely. The character of defence is changing rapidly, and autonomous systems are now central to how nations project and protect power.
“What drew me to C2 Robotics is its visionary approach and engineering depth; this is a company building real capability for Australia and our allies.
“As CEO, my focus will be on scaling our autonomous systems across air, land and undersea domains, strengthening sovereign capability and accelerating C2 Robotics’ growth domestically and overseas.
“I’m looking forward to work with the incredible C2 Robotics team for what will be a very busy 2026.”
“Troy brings deep operational leadership in complex, mission-critical environments and a strong track record in transitioning advanced technology from concept to capability,” according to a public statement from the company.
“His background in large-scale maritime and joint operations, combined with a clear passion for autonomous and uncrewed systems, positions C2 Robotics strongly for its next phase of growth.
“As a five-year-old Australian company with a rapidly expanding team and product portfolio across air, land and maritime domains, C2 Robotics is entering a critical execution phase.
“Troy’s leadership will focus on accelerating delivery, strengthening industry and defence partnerships, and scaling our sovereign capability.”
C2 Robotics has also recently announced a partnership with Thales Australia and Austal Australia to develop a powerful Australian-made network capable of detecting, classifying and transmitting actionable intelligence at Australia’s northern underwater approaches.
The three defence companies, speaking at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition late last year, announced the solution would involve the integration of C2’s Speartooth family of vehicles, Thales Australia’s suite of undersea warfare sensors and potentially could be fielded with Austal’s surface naval vessels.
The “surveillance network” would work to deter hostile subsea and surface threats by allowing surface vessels to drop and over time rotate or maintain Speartooth underwater vehicles at crucial naval chokepoints. These persistent and expendable long-range surveillance vehicles could record and then surface to report the passage of adversary contacts, such as submarines.
The layered military system integrates Thales Australia’s BlueSentry thin line towed array and BlueSeeker advanced passive sense and avoid capability into C2 Robotics’ silent, long-endurance Speartooth underwater vehicle to better leverage the coverage of the uncrewed system and extend its situational awareness across vast maritime domains. Speartooth vehicles could be “dropped” by passing Austal-manufactured Evolved Cape Class vessels, already in use with the Australian Border Force and Royal Australian Navy.
Under the strategy, dispersed platforms could operate in concert, simultaneously being able to deploy a theatre-level network of active and passive arrays across great distances to deliver true maritime domain awareness.
Nineteen Austal Cape and Evolved Cape Class patrol boats are already deployed within the Australian Defence Force and ABF fleet, and with three more currently in construction, the Evolved Cape Class patrol boat reportedly represents the ideal platform from which to deploy and manage this capability, according to the companies.
