SeaRobotics will Manufacture Lockheed Martin’s Commercial Deepwater AUV

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Lockheed Martin selected SeaRobotics Corporation as the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for its Marlin® Mk3 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)  designed for survey and inspection applications in depths up to 4,000 meters.

Designed for deepwater applications such as pipeline inspection, deepwater survey, and life of field support services for oil and gas, the Marlin® Mk3’s modular, plug and play mission package architecture and dual AUV/Remote Operated Vehicle propulsion modes is a revolution in AUV technology that can perform a wide range of deepwater geophysical survey and structural integrity management inspection operations.  The Marlin® can be outfitted with sophisticated sensor packages including multi-beam, side scan, 3D, sub-bottom profiler, and synthetic aperture sonars, as well as high resolution video, still photo, and laser profilers, enabling advanced autonomous data acquisition, processing, analysis and response. 

“Lockheed Martin’s extensive AUV development expertise, coupled with SeaRobotics’ comprehensive commercial design, manufacturing, and offshore support capabilities, forms a team that is fully capable of delivering Marlin’s game-changing technology to commercial markets,” said Don Darling, president of SeaRobotics.

Leveraging advanced autonomy technologies developed for Lockheed Martin’s undersea defense portfolio, the Marlin Mk3 offers powerful new autonomous inspection capabilities that significantly reduce operator workload and fatigue.  High resolutions, 3D models of subsea structures in real time, and prior survey result detections enhance Marlin’s capabilities. The Marlin Mk3’s 44 kWh battery capacity provides mission endurance up to 24 hours and an operational range greater than 100 kilometers before recharging is required.

“Lockheed Martin’s Marlin Mk3 allows offshore service providers to take on a wider range of deepwater survey and inspection operations than other AUVs, and its plug and play design enables rapid adoption of new sensor, navigation, communication, and energy technologies,” said Rich Holmberg, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Mission and Unmanned Systems. “Lockheed Martin has over 20 years of experience in deploying innovative AUV solutions and the Marlin Mk3 takes these unmanned solutions to the next level.” 

SeaRobotics Corporation, headquartered in Stuart, Florida, specializes in small, smart vessels that are remotely or autonomously operated.  Its clients include major military and commercial organizations, both U.S. and foreign.  

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that – with the addition of Sikorsky – employs approximately 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.