Defense contractor Ultra Maritime has demonstrated an integrated passive-active sonar architecture designed to track uncrewed underwater vehicles during the U.S. Navy’s Lanternfish 2026 exercise. The capability combines the company’s Sea Spear deployable passive sonar array with its newly developed SSQ-125B active sonobuoy to establish persistent underwater surveillance in contested maritime environments.
As reported by Naval News, the demonstration combined passive detection from the Sea Spear array with active localization from the SSQ-125B sonobuoy to target uncrewed underwater vehicles. The exercise aligns with Ultra Maritime’s Ocean of Things concept, which focuses on deploying a distributed network of autonomous sensors from crewed and uncrewed platforms to monitor undersea battlespaces.
The SSQ-125B active sonobuoy works alongside the Sea Spear system to form a combined acoustic detection framework for anti-submarine warfare and counter-UUV operations. Designed for scalable deployment from both surface and subsea platforms, the integrated sonar architecture can be configured to protect ports, critical maritime infrastructure, choke points, and strategically significant waterways.
