Adelaide SME Acacia Systems is poised to take on a key role in the ongoing integration and simulation efforts for the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) SEA 1905 Tranche 1 – Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MCM) program, pending Exail’s successful bid.
Exail CEO Dominique Giannoni recently opened the company’s Advanced Center for Mine Countermeasures Systems Software Integration and Simulation in La Garde, France. This center will serve as a blueprint for an Adelaide-based software reference, support and integration platform.
Giannoni, who was in Sydney last week for Indo Pacific 2023, said the new center based in France demonstrated Exail’s commitment to leading the future of rapid integration of autonomous MCM technology.
“We are poised to deliver third-generation MCM capability to Australia with our Australian partners, and this center symbolizes our commitment to further transform autonomous technology and enhance the capabilities of our mine countermeasures and military survey systems,” he said.
“Our mission is to deliver state-of-the-art, but also cost-effective solutions, thereby ensuring that we deliver unrivaled value to our customers as RAN.”
Exail is working closely with several local Australian industry partners including UGL, Solutions from Silicon (SfS) and Acacia Systems in their efforts to secure SEA 1905 and then rapidly integrate the autonomous technology into the RAN.
“We are ready to receive the necessary know-how to maintain Exail’s core UMISOFTTM Mission Management software,” said Acacia Systems CEO Horden Wiltshire.
“Acacia will be trained at the French-based center for MCM software integration and simulation, which in the short term will support the major NATO MCM projects Exail has secured in Europe for the Belgian and Dutch navies. Acacia and Australia will be able to take the lessons learned from the deployment of these capabilities and bring that experience to the capabilities being implemented in Australia.
“Acacia has been encouraged by Exail’s commitment to transfer this advanced tooling technology to Australia and the engagement Acacia has already experienced at a technical level with the Exail team, which bodes well for future deployment of the capability.”
Exail’s technology ushers in a new era of progress with the state-of-the-art facility introducing a range of advanced features, such as dynamic drone modeling and enhanced cyber security capabilities, set to revolutionize mine countermeasures and military survey systems.
More information about the Advanced Center for Software Integration and Simulation (ACSIS)
- Software validation: The center offers a highly realistic virtual environment that allows engineers to fully complete Integration, Verification, Validation and Qualification (IVVQ) testing for all software used in UMISOFTTM system as well as for periodic updates, upgrades and patches. Furthermore, it also provides a test and evaluation capability for new and improved autonomous drones that can be added to or replace existing UMIS system drones. This validation capability ensures optimal software performance and minimizes risk by reducing unforeseen errors during live operations.
- Advanced mission simulation: Engineers at ACSIS can simulate MCM missions and investigate the behavior of UMIS system drones in different environments, sea and weather conditions. External and animated 3-dimensional drone views, as well as video, radar and sonar-generated views enhance rigorous testing to ensure mission-critical systems excel in real-world conditions. In particular, it enables the validation of all encryption and authentication, log and management functions to meet strict cyber security requirements.
- UMIS delivery test and evaluation (T&E): ACSIS also provides a delivery test, evaluation and certification capability prior to customer acceptance to guarantee that clients are delivered safe, fit for purpose and operationally effective MCMs.
- Expert center: ACSIS acts as an expert hub to replay actual operations, demonstrations and training sessions to develop best practices for MCM missions, including optimizing all aspects of planning, execution and data analysis (detect-classify-identify-neutralise). Additionally, it also serves to assess procedures for future drone additions that will continue to enhance the capabilities of the UMIS system.
- Modular solutions integration: A modular design philosophy is key to the UMIS system architecture. The center facilitates the efficient development of advanced modular solutions for different mission scenarios by assessing the real-time performance of different toolboxes (combinations of drones), threats and environments (e.g. shallow water, shore-based, open sea, river, ports and canals operations). .
- Cost effectiveness: By providing a hi-fidelity computer-simulated environment for testing, training and simulation, ACSIS significantly reduces speed to capability, development and sea trial costs, greatly improving overall value for Exail’s customers.
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