Mission Systems Selected for AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge
- Mission Systems
- 6 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Australia's Answer to the Undersea Communications Challenge
In March 2025, the Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) launched the Australian component of the AUKUS Maritime Innovation Challenge — a trilateral defence innovation initiative developed in partnership with the United Kingdom's Defence Innovation and the United States' Defense Innovation Unit.
The Challenge sought innovative solutions from industry and research institutions across all three nations, with a focus on one of the most demanding problems in modern maritime operations: undersea communications and the control of autonomous systems.
Mission Systems is proud to have been selected as one of three Australian companies in this challenge.
The Problem
Operating underwater is one of the most communication-hostile environments imaginable. Conventional wireless technologies — radio waves, GPS — do not function beneath the surface. Acoustic communication can travel long distances but is subject to constant disruption from temperature gradients, multi-path interference and ambient noise.
For autonomous underwater vehicles to operate effectively — and for human operators to maintain meaningful command and control — reliable, adaptive communication is not a nice-to-have. It is foundational.
The Mission Systems Approach
Mission Systems is developing an ultra-long-range solution for underwater acoustic communication (ACOMMS) that goes beyond software alone.
At the core of the project is a compact, payload incorporating one of the most powerful embedded computers ever deployed in an autonomous underwater vehicle. This payload houses a real-time ACOMMS model capable of reading the oceanographic environment and dynamically adapting its communication strategy to optimise throughput — moment by moment, as conditions change.
The payload will be integrated into Mission Systems' Macrura AUV, which will be modified to carry an ultra-low frequency flooded ring transducer specifically designed to demonstrate long-range command and control capability.
The result is a system that doesn't just communicate underwater — it thinks about how to communicate underwater, and adjusts accordingly.
Part of a Broader Alliance
Mission Systems joins a select group of organisations across the US, UK and Australia awarded funding through this challenge. Fellow awardees include Florida Atlantic University and Hydromea SA (US), who are combining long-range acoustic and high-speed optical networking into a single programmable platform, and Systems Engineering & Assessment (SEA) in the UK, who are also enhancing their Underwater Acoustic Modelling Toolset for acoustic communications performance prediction.
Together, these projects represent the cutting edge of allied undersea capability — and Mission Systems is proud to contribute to that effort.
Looking Forward
This project reflects Mission Systems' broader commitment to building sovereign Australian capability in autonomous and underwater systems — not by implementing existing solutions, but by inventing new ones.
Undersea communications is a foundational challenge for the future of maritime defence and Mission Systems is building the answer.
Mission Systems is an Australian defence technology company specialising in autonomy, sensing and communications in the land, sea and air domains.
To learn more, visit missionsystems.com.auÂ