Congressman Courtney Visits ThayerMahan to Discuss Undersea Issues

GROTON, Conn., Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, met Friday, Jan. 17, with ThayerMahan CEO Mike Connor and his leadership team to discuss key issues related to undersea surveillance and security.

"There is no question that the security environment has dramatically shifted over the last decade, putting all eyes on our submarine force to deter aggression and uphold peace and prosperity," said Courtney. "Innovative technology like ThayerMahan's Outpost system provides the Navy with greater capacity to meet that reality by relieving the submarine force from some surveillance activities and allowing our submariners to focus on other critical missions. It was great to see ThayerMahan's work up close and hear from Mike Connor and the young engineers who are leading the way."

While funding for submarine construction has been allocated, ongoing supply chain challenges have hindered production, which will impact the Navy's ability to expand its SSN fleet over the next decade. These delays, combined with shortages in capital surveillance assets, have created a significant surveillance gap.

Growing global threats, from Russian Naval fleets off the coast of Florida, to China preparing to end Taiwan sovereignty, drive the need for enhanced surveillance capabilities. ThayerMahan and Congressman Courtney discussed the prospect of unmanned surveillance systems to bridge this gap and enhance the effectiveness of AUKUS Pillar II, which is poised to be a central component of the agreement in 2025.

ThayerMahan's Outpost acoustic surveillance system is hosted aboard a Bluebottle unmanned vessel developed by Australia's Ocius Technology Limited through a partnership in support of the AUKUS defense agreement.  This capable platform marries Australia's world-class sailboat racing designs with ThayerMahan's advanced subsea surveillance technology to provide real-time sensing, reporting, and maritime domain awareness to operations centers ashore.

President and CEO Mike Connor, retired Commander of the U.S. Submarine Force, stated:

"We are proud to collaborate with a leading Australian unmanned systems manufacturer to advance the goals of AUKUS Pillar II. The integration of our Outpost system aboard the Ocius Bluebottle USV provides a highly effective uncrewed undersea sensing platform that can be employed in critical areas around the world at a fraction of the cost of traditional surveillance systems."

On the topic of ThayerMahan's growth and development, Congressman Courtney and CEO Mike Connor discussed how the partnership between the company's commercial and government business units could aid in the threats faced in the realm of undersea cables, an emerging concern globally, but well within ThayerMahan's capabilities.

Outpost^® is an autonomous, mobile long-dwell system that meets top level Navy requirements for Deep Water Passive Surveillance. Produced locally in southeastern Connecticut, Outpost has drawn top talent to the region. ThayerMahan has committed to meet growing surveillance needs, with plans to double manufacturing floor capacity and fill over fifty new high-skilled jobs in 2025. With insourced capabilities, ThayerMahan can produce a minimum of 100 unmanned autonomous systems and have them in service within two years.

About ThayerMahan^®  
ThayerMahan, Inc. is a maritime technology company dedicated to providing its government and commercial clients with turn-key autonomous marine solutions, including deployment, operations, data gathering, and analysis services, using state-of-the-art acoustic and electronic sensors integrated on a variety of host platforms tailored to specific mission criteria. The Company is headquartered in Groton, CT with additional locations in Lowell and New Bedford, MA, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.thayermahan.com or contact directly at [email protected]. 

Media Contact: Dr Kevin Lopes
Vice President, Marketing
120B Leonard Drive
Groton, CT 06340
860-937-6499
www.thayermahan.com

SOURCE ThayerMahan, Inc.