BlueHalo and United Kingdom-based Kraken Technology Group last Friday said they have formed a strategic partnership to integrate the U.S.-based company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning-based autonomous mission systems into Kraken’s uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), uncrewed hybrid surface and subsurface vessels (USSVs), and multidomain marsupial capabilities.
Kraken’s vessels for the integration include the K3 SCOUT USV, the K4 MANTA USSV, and the littoral K5 KRAKEN Gunship, which the company says on its website is 15.25 meters long and has a crew of two pilots and two operators. Kraken said that BlueHalo’s autonomous mission systems technology has already been integrated on the K3, showing “clear synergies in both vision and expertise.”
Additionally, BlueHalo’s Titan and Skyview radio frequency-based counter-drone systems will be integrated as payloads with the three Kraken platforms.
“This expansion into the maritime domain is one of several initiatives we have been planning as part of our long-term strategic vision,” Jonathan Moneymaker, BlueHalo’s CEO, said in a statement. “Kraken’s innovative spirit and passion for customer success align directly with our DNA and we are excited to be bringing these disruptive offerings to the mission.”
Kraken describes the 7.5-meter-long K3 as a low cost, low signature USV with a 1,322-pouund modular payload bay. The K4 MANTA USSV includes variants ranging from 3.7-meters to 16.5-meters long and features a modular payload bay up to 11,023 pounds.
In March, Kraken also announced a strategic partnership with
Auterion, a Northern Virginia-based company developing autonomous computing systems for unmanned systems. The companies initially are integrating Auterion’s autonomy architecture on the K3 and K4 platforms.