SEA to provide OSHEN with acoustic underwater monitoring capability for autonomous sensing network

09 April 2026: SEA, part of Cohort plc Group, is supporting marine autonomy specialist OSHEN on a ZeroUSV-led project, which is exploring the deployment and development of an autonomous underwater acoustic sensing network to enhance communications with subsurface assets. The project is led by USV specialists – ZeroUSV, with OSHEN, MarineAI and MSubs as project partners, and supported by UK Defence Innovation (previously DASA) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

As part of the collaboration, SEA will provide hydrophones for use on OSHEN’s C-STARS uncrewed surface system to provide low-power acoustic listening capability. The project will see OSHEN deploy its rugged sail-powered C-STARS micro-drones from Zero USV’s Oceanus12 uncrewed surface vessel to act as a distributed acoustic network, monitoring for communication signals from underwater assets. 

SEA’s hydrophones will provide the acoustic sensing capability, with the technology already deployed in various applications including maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations. SEA’s collaboration with OSHEN for the DASA programme reflects growing international demand for scalable acoustic and monitoring capabilities, that can be deployed from both crewed and uncrewed platforms. 

It also builds on SEA’s wider contribution to UK and international wide-area ASW and ISR programmes and operations, where its sensing and processing technologies – such as KraitSense – deliver underwater surveillance capabilities across complex operational environments.

Guy Hope, Business Development Executive at SEA said, “Autonomous systems are reshaping how navies think about surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and communications. By integrating SEA hydrophones into OSHEN’s C-STARS platforms, this exciting project aims to demonstrate a novel approach to the deployment of scalable, affordable, low-signature sensor and communication networks.”   

Operations for the DASA project are centred at Turnchapel Wharf in Plymouth, where OSHEN and ZeroUSV are based, and is a tech cluster for  marine autonomy in the Southwest, with Plymouth having been named as the National Centre for Marine Autonomy. SEA will support the programme from its recently upgraded and expanded manufacturing facility in Barnstaple, North Devon, strengthening collaboration across the South West’s maritime technology sector.

Anahita Laverack, CEO at OSHEN said, “To deliver wide-area monitoring, robust and reliable performance is key. C-STARS was designed for long-endurance missions in extreme operating environments. By integrating SEA’s proven acoustic sensors on to the platform, we can enhance underwater situational awareness in a scalable and cost-effective way.”

The programme forms part of wider UK efforts to explore distributed and autonomous approaches to surface and subsea surveillance and maritime security.

photo courtesy SEA