Overview
- The Ministry of Defence awarded Teledyne Marine a contract under the Future Maritime Data Gathering program to deliver Sentinel and Slocum gliders plus APEX profiling floats.
- The systems will send steady streams of temperature, salinity, current, and acoustic data to frontline Information Warfare meteorology and oceanography teams to guide operations and support the Atlantic Bastion concept.
- The MOD said Teledyne was chosen for seamless interoperability with the Royal Navy’s current glider fleet, along with security compliance and proven readiness.
- The contract formalizes a broader shift from crewed survey ships to distributed sensors, with HMS Scott now the only deep‑ocean survey vessel as uncrewed platforms take on more tasks.
- The newer Slocum Sentinel can carry larger batteries and more sensors for missions lasting over two years, and earlier Royal Navy trials ran a glider for 219 days across the GIUK gap.