At our technology partners’ Wavefront Systems, innovation isn’t just a guiding principle—it’s the foundation of everything they do. Their Solstice Multi Aperture Sonar (MAS) exemplifies this ethos, redefining underwater autonomy by enabling maritime operators to execute missions with enhanced precision, safety, and efficiency.
Solstice MAS represents a significant advancement in sonar technology, achieving a balance between traditional side-scan sonar and synthetic aperture systems. Designed specifically for deployment on small or medium sized autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), it delivers high-resolution imaging akin to synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) while maintaining the durability and simplicity required for real-world operations. Its flexibility makes it suitable for critical missions such as mine hunting, hydrography, salvage, search-and-rescue (SAR), and unexploded ordnance (UXO) removal.
“Solstice strikes the perfect balance between cutting-edge performance and practical deployment,” explained James Spinks, Technical Sales Manager (Asia Pacific) at Forcys. “It’s a system that delivers exceptional imaging while remaining robust and reliable for diverse maritime operations.”
Wavefront has designed Solstice to thrive in varied underwater environments. The system operates effectively at shallow depths of just 8 meters and extends its reach to depths of up to 600 meters. This capability unlocks new possibilities for smaller platforms, equipping them with sonar functionalities that were previously out of reach.
A notable deployment occurred in late 2023 when Wavefront collaborated with Voyis and L3Harris to outfit the Iver4 900 platform with a combined AUV payload. This integrated solution, delivered to a NATO Navy, was engineered to detect, classify, and identify mine-like objects, eliminating the need for personnel to enter dangerous zones.
“By combining Solstice’s detection and classification capabilities with Voyis’ laser scanner and camera, the payload ensures critical identification tasks are conducted remotely,” said Spinks. This advancement is a major step toward safer and more scalable maritime operations.
With features like real-time array calibration and multipath suppression, Solstice ensures consistent image clarity even in challenging seabed conditions. Additionally, its alignment with Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) trends positions it as a ready-to-use solution for fast mission planning, real-time data processing, and reduced logistical complexities.
Far more than just a sonar system, Solstice MAS embodies Wavefront’s and Forcys’ commitment to driving innovation in underwater autonomy. By equipping defence forces and commercial operators with adaptable and reliable tools, it is setting new standards in the evolving landscape of modern maritime operations.
Forcys has been involved in numerous discussions related to Critical National Undersea Infrastructure (CNUI), which result in the conclusion that maritime naval forces and security organisations are being expected to reorient to the new task and are looking for technology to provide quick-win solutions for delivery. But how is this additional activity funded and delivered? How could industry support the protection of their assets, from which they make substantial profit?
The stark reality is that industry will only engage with the process when the operating risk becomes intolerable and/or the profitability of its business is not affected. To compel industry to pay for CNUI protection is not as simple as imposing a levy. A comprehensive approach that aligns financial incentives, regulatory frameworks, and collaboration between the private sector, governments, and naval forces is essential.
This article by Justin Hains, Business Development Manager, discusses the ‘top down’ approaches that could strengthen the security of CNUI and concludes with an initial step towards collective responsibility for security, irrespective of the countries involved.
Highlighting Financial Risks and Losses
Companies must recognize the significant financial risks of infrastructure failure, including disruptions from sabotage, natural disasters, or cyber attacks. Such incidents can lead to substantial downtime, revenue loss, and reputational damage. Potentially, investment in protection could lower insurance premiums, presenting a clear financial incentive to safeguard undersea infrastructure.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Governments could encourage joint funding mechanisms, where both public and private sectors share the cost of protection. This could include subsidies or incentives for companies that invest in undersea security. A shared responsibility model motivates both sectors to contribute, minimizing the burden on individual entities.
Economic and Operational Benefits
Protection should be seen as a long-term investment. Preventing service interruptions and costly repairs reduces future expenditures, while avoiding fines for non-compliance or environmental damage. Secure infrastructure enhances reliability, operational efficiency, and could provide a competitive edge for companies prioritizing resilience.
Raising Awareness of Vulnerabilities
Increasing awareness about the growing risks—ranging from cyber attacks to physical sabotage—could spur companies into action. Sharing case studies of past incidents where undersea infrastructure was damaged can help highlight the serious consequences of neglecting protection.
Legislation and Regulation
Governments could implement mandatory security measures for critical infrastructure, with penalties for non-compliance. Additionally, tax incentives or credits can encourage voluntary investment in protection. A regulatory framework could ensure that companies take the necessary steps to safeguard their assets, viewing it as both a legal and financial obligation.
International Cooperation and IMO Framework
Under international law, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) grants nations exclusive rights over the seafloor within their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), where much of the critical infrastructure lies. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) provides a framework for the safety and security of maritime infrastructure. Governments can urge industry to cooperate in protecting these assets, noting that disruptions to infrastructure within the EEZ could have both national and international repercussions. Multinational agreements and IMO initiatives can help distribute the costs of protection.
Centralized Reporting and Monitoring Hub
A centralized hub would allow for real-time reporting, monitoring, and coordination among stakeholders. This system would integrate data from various sources—such as satellite surveillance, sensors on infrastructure, and environmental monitoring—to detect potential threats, enabling rapid responses, and inform stakeholders in a timely, accurate and coherent manner. The UK Maritime Trade Operations located in Dubai provides an example of such a response to piracy, armed robbery and potentially mining events, where the shipping industry and naval forces benefit from common situational awareness. A central platform for CNUI would allow quick incident reporting, ensuring coordinated responses from industry, government, and naval forces.
Data Sharing: Asset Location and Environmental Information
Companies should share location data of critical assets and environmental information. This allows authorities to better protect and respond to threats, especially in high-risk zones. Sharing environmental data (e.g., seismic activity or water currents) aids in preventing natural risks that could impact infrastructure. Additionally, sharing cyber security-related data helps protect against digital threats.
Legal and Regulatory Framework for Data Sharing
To encourage data sharing, clear legal frameworks must protect proprietary information while ensuring the sharing of necessary security and environmental data. Governments could offer liability protections for companies that share information in good faith, and establish data-sharing standards for consistency and security.
Conclusion
Key to the success of CNUI protection is the creation of a centralized reporting and monitoring hub, coupled with secure data sharing between industry, government, and naval forces. This could be the first step towards a holistic approach to protection of undersea infrastructure. Underpinned by international frameworks like UNCLOS and conforming to IMO guidelines, this approach offers stronger risk management, quicker response times, and greater resilience, ultimately encouraging industry to invest in the protection of critical infrastructure.
Forcys is pleased to announce the promotion of Dan Zatezalo to the role of Vice President, reinforcing the company’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge naval and subsea solutions to the US military and its allies.
Backed by over fifty years of experience, Forcys offers the global maritime naval sector remote, autonomous, and networked control capabilities delivering integrated situational awareness to customers in the underwater domain.
Covering a range of maritime operations including asset protection, littoral strike, mine warfare, submarine rescue, and submarine and anti-submarine warfare, Forcys seeks to transform the underwater domain by enabling increasingly distributed and automated operations. This is made possible by integrating and bringing to market world-changing solutions from leading technology partners Chelsea Technologies, EIVA, Sonardyne, Voyis, and Wavefront Systems.
With extensive experience in the sector, Dan has served as General Manager for North America and Head of Global Sales becoming instrumental in supporting US operations and global growth. Dan’s leadership will continue to support Forcys’ mission to equip navies with customer-shaped solutions that enhance battlespace advantage both above and below the surface. Attendees at Sea Air Space 2025 are invited to visit the Forcys stand to meet Dan and learn more about Forcys latest innovations in maritime navel forces.
At Forcys, we understand that control of the underwater battlespace depends on more than what can be seen or heard—it depends on what can be shared securely. In today’s contested maritime domain, secure, reliable underwater communication is no longer optional. It’s essential to operational success.
Unlike other military environments, the underwater domain doesn’t allow for traditional radio communications. Instead, acoustic signals, which are vulnerable to range, delay and distortion, remain the only viable method for transmitting data below the surface. Add in the complexity of real-world oceanographic conditions—such as thermoclines and salinity layers—and the challenge becomes even greater.
Despite these limitations, the underwater battlespace is becoming increasingly strategic, particularly as geopolitical tensions rise and the seabed becomes a focal point for both defence and infrastructure security. Without robust encryption and assured communication protocols, adversaries can intercept transmissions and compromise both missions and lives. The threat is real: intercepted signals could reveal the position of a submarine or disrupt command of an autonomous underwater vehicle.
This is where integrated, adaptive networks come into play. By deploying a mesh of underwater communication nodes, Forcys and our technology partners at Acousonix and Sonardyne enable navies to maintain tactical advantage while minimising the risk of detection.
As autonomous systems such as AUVs and UUVs take on more complex roles in surveillance, mine countermeasures, and infrastructure protection, the demand for encrypted, fail-safe communication increases. These platforms operate at the edge of the battlespace and require secure, low-latency updates to perform effectively.
The ability to push edge-processed data and raw sensor information across a secure network enables real-time decision-making. This is how situational awareness becomes decision superiority. Through intelligent prioritisation of data based on latency requirements, a persistent sensor network can cue additional assets onto a contact, protect high-value units, or shift strategy on the fly. This is the difference between reacting and winning.
Beyond traditional military operations, the same need for secure underwater communication applies to defending critical underwater infrastructure (CUI), conducting mine warfare and countermeasures, and securing temporary high-profile events. Whether for short-range or long-distance operations, the principle remains: without secure communication, situational awareness breaks down.
Forcys and our partners have long been at the forefront of secure underwater communications. Software-defined modems developed within this ecosystem allow rapid switching between national and allied security protocols, ensuring interoperability across NATO and coalition forces. This is essential, as future conflicts will rarely be fought alone. Secure communication is not just about technology. It’s about trust. Trust in data, in systems, in the decisions being made at speed in the most demanding environments on earth.
At Forcys, we understand that modern maritime security demands more than just sophisticated sensors or autonomous vehicles – it requires seamless integration of cutting-edge technology. This is where the combined expertise of our technology partners comes into play. The capabilities of EIVA’s ViperFish, alongside advanced solutions from Sonardyne, and Wavefront Systems are reshaping how subsea threats are monitored and managed, ensuring that the maritime defence community has the tools needed for effective real-time operations.
ViperFish is an all-in-one remotely operated towed vehicle (ROTV) designed for high-resolution data collection in autonomous operations. At Forcys we see the integration of this product as a significant step forward in autonomous operations. Designed for seabed imaging and geophysical surveys, ViperFish performs these tasks with remarkable precision, particularly and can even be paired with unmanned surface vessels (USVs). This opens up new possibilities for autonomous operations in complex underwater environments, enhancing mission safety, efficiency and data accuracy.
By combining this ROTV with positioning systems, sonar technology and EIVA’s NaviSuite survey software, we deliver a powerful, integrated solution that supports critical defence missions. ViperFish’s ability to automatically maintain a set height above the seabed makes it an invaluable tool for mine countermeasures, UXO (unexploded ordnance) surveys, and rapid environmental assessments.
“Forcys leverages Covelya Group partnerships to deliver solutions that provide capabilities beyond the sum of their individual components,” says Antonio Belfiore, Senior Sales Manager at Forcys. “Additionally, the combined research and development expertise across our group of companies enables Forcys to rapidly adapt to emerging threats and evolving mission requirements. This knowhow was instrumental in the development of ViperFish. Designed to be the tool of choice for mine-hunting across the littoral and in riverine environments, Viperfish is also easy to use and provides your team actionable data in real-time.”
In the context of mine warfare, these integrated solutions are revolutionising the way threat detection is carried out. By relying on autonomous vehicles that can navigate complex underwater environments with precision, defence teams can carry out missions more efficiently and frequently than ever before. The combination of ViperFish’s flexibility and the advanced sensor technologies it brings together enables vast subsea areas to be covered with unprecedented detail.
These advancements not only improve operational efficiency but also provide the necessary foundation for many future maritime and defence security operations.
At Forcys we’re proud to be part of this journey, ensuring that autonomous technology plays a central role in securing your assets.
Read more about our technology partner EIVA.
Discover ViperFish ROTV deployed by ProZero 8m Naval Intelligence USV:
At Forcys, we are committed to delivering innovative underwater technology solutions that are both reliable and cost-effective. A key part of our approach is leveraging Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software and hardware to meet the complex demands of maritime communications.
COTS solutions provide pre-built, readily available technology designed for seamless integration into existing systems. Unlike bespoke solutions that require extensive customisation and long development cycles, COTS offers a faster, more efficient, and cost-effective alternative for customers looking to enhance their capabilities.
We recently spoke with our Technical Sales Manager, Benn Pickering, who brings extensive experience in sales, business development, and customer relations. He shared his insights into the advantages of COTS technology and its growing impact on underwater operations.
Benn explains, “Rather than invest time and resources into something bespoke, you can take advantage of existing, well-tested solutions. In fact, COTS technology is also known for its reliability, having been built on years of industry-wide testing and refinement. These solutions are designed to withstand the harsh conditions of underwater environments. This is crucial for maritime operations, where equipment must perform flawlessly for extended periods. With COTS, you benefit from tried-and-tested technology that has already been proven in real-world conditions.”
Another key advantage is that with continuous updates and advancements in the commercial sector, COTS solutions evolve to keep pace with emerging technologies, ensuring they remain relevant for years to come. Standardised hardware and software also make repairs and replacements simpler and faster, while user familiarity with these systems reduces training time and support requirements.
“The ability to integrate new advancements without overhauling entire systems is a major advantage,” Benn points out. “It gives you the confidence that your investment will remain valuable as technology progresses.”
“At Forcys, we go beyond simply offering COTS products. Our technology partners are creating an ecosystem of compatible technologies that work seamlessly together, providing end-to-end solutions without compatibility issues,” Benn shares.
By staying ahead of industry developments, Forcys empowers clients to tackle maritime challenges with confidence and efficiency.
A great example of COTS technology in action is our technology partner Sonardyne’s SPRINT-Nav, an all-in-one subsea navigation instrument that integrates an inertial navigation system (INS), a Doppler velocity log (DVL), and a depth sensor into a single, compact unit.
“SPRINT-Nav is a great example of how COTS can offer high-performance solutions without the costs and complexity of a custom-built system. It is designed to provide robust, long-endurance navigation, making it ideal for AUV and ROV operations. It has already been used extensively in support of offshore underwater operations and has become the navigation system of choice for most large autonomous underwater vehicle manufacturers. A bespoke navigation system takes years to develop, manufacture, and test. At the end of that process, you could still fall short of your goals. With systems like SPRINT-Nav, you can pre-determine the outcome from the data sheet.”
“However, if you are required to meet military standards, leveraging COTS solutions is an excellent strategy. It allows you to begin with a proven, functional product and focus your efforts on ruggedisation. We’d be happy to partner with you to achieve full Military-Off-The-Shelf (MOTS) compliance.”
If you’d like to find out more, please reach out to our team.
Held at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center from April 6th to 9th, Sea-Air-Space is the premier maritime exposition in the U.S., bringing together defense industry leaders and top military decision-makers from around the world to share the latest advancements in the maritime domain. Forcys will be exhibiting at the Prince George’s Exhibition Hall on booth 350.
Forcys will be exhibiting at NAVDEX in ADNEC Marina, Abu Dhabi, UAE on stand C-043 from the 17th to the 21st of February 2025. Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirate, NAVDEX is held alongside IDEX, the International Defence Exhibition and Conference .
Forcys, a global leader in underwater defence technology, and Cubedin, an innovator in modular infrastructure for maritime operations, are proud to announce a strategic partnership to provide rapidly deployable modular MCM solutions. To this end the companies have entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at EURONAVAL 2024 in Paris.
Forcys integrates and brings to the defence market world-changing solutions from leading technology partners Chelsea Technologies, EIVA, Sonardyne, Voyis, and Wavefront Systems. Forcys will harness these capabilities to deliver highly customisable, interoperable, and containerised solutions for complex naval missions.
At the core of this integration is Forcys’ MCM-in-a-box, designed and developed by EIVA. The 20-foot Cube module solution features EIVA’s Remotely Operated Towed Vehicle (ROTV). This versatile system supports a variety of payloads, enabling it to meet Mine Countermeasures (MCM) requirements as well as Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA), and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations.
Designed with maximum flexibility in mind, the MCM-in-a-box can operate as a standalone system from any vessel of opportunity or military ship, and it is ideally suited to the Cubedin concept. “We are excited to partner with Cubedin and see our MCM-in-a-box solution incorporated into Cubedin’s modular concept,” said Antonio J. Belfiore, Senior Sales Manager EMEIA at Forcys. “This integration will make it easier to incorporate our solution into more complex C2 setups, creating seamless integration opportunities for modular military ships and making our systems readily accessible to our customers.”
