Global maritime defence company Forcys has seen a significant surge in sales of Sentinel IDS®, the world’s leading Intruder Detection Sonar this year. Sentinel, developed by Covelya Group technology partner Wavefront Systems, detects, tracks and classifies divers and uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) approaching a protected asset from any direction and alerts security personnel to the threat. It can be deployed on demand by expeditionary teams or installed permanently as part of a network of multiple sonar heads to provide underwater situational awareness. Able to identify divers at ranges of up to 1,000 m and UUVs at 1,500 m, Sentinel takes reliable, long range underwater intruder detection to a new level and is used in defence, Critical National Infrastructure, vessel and VIP protection duties around the world.
Ioseba Tena, Forcys MD, commented; ”With tense security levels across much of the globe, increasing numbers of navies and defence organisations are relying on Sentinel to protect their assets. It’s no surprise that this year has seen our largest volume of Sentinel sales to date, and I am particularly proud that the Forcys teams across Australia, the UK and the US have played a significant part in achieving this. We are thrilled to continue to lead the way in protecting the world’s underwater spaces and grateful for our customer’s ongoing trust in our products and services.”
The Sentinel Intruder Detection Sonar (IDS) from Wavefront Systems is a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), compact, lightweight system with a proven track record of global performance for the military and private use. Sentinel protects assets that range from naval ports and vessels to other potential sabotage targets. As an example, Wavefront supplied Sentinel to protect the River Seine during the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, a demonstration of the level of confidence customers place in the system on the world stage. Sentinel provides fully automatic detection and tracking of potential underwater threats and targets of interest while analysing their behaviours. It provides protection against underwater threats including: Divers (closed/open circuit); Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs); Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPVs); and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs).
Sonars can receive signals either passively (receive only) or actively (transmit and receive) – Sentinel, uniquely combines both active and passive processing using it’s patented SInAPS® technology (Simultaneous In-band Active and Passive Sonar) allowing the passive emissions from the target to help detection and tracking when active tracking may not be possible. Weighing only 32 kgs, the Sentinel head is ideally suited for deployed warships or security units responsible for its safe arrival/berthing. Consisting of a sonar head, workstation, cables, and deployment frame, Sentinel is mobile and simple to set up. This enables operators to quickly initialise the system and secure a berth, whether deployed over the side or through the ship’s hull.
