New defense partnership to develop next-gen underwater ranges

November 18, 2025, by Fatima Bahtić

Two defense companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen Australia’s capability in undersea and autonomous systems.

The firms, QinetiQ and Forcys, will work together to develop advanced tools and deployable underwater ranges to test and evaluate maritime platforms. Specifically, the partnership will bring together QinetiQ’s global knowledge in defense test and evaluation, mission assurance, and range management, with Forcys’ underwater sensing and communication technologies.

The companies plan to develop and operate advanced tools that ensure how well maritime platforms and technologies perform, from early design through to real-world use.

“This partnership represents a step-change in how we can deliver sovereign maritime assurance for Australia and its partners. Australia’s security and national interests depend on being able to understand and trust how these systems perform, and as the undersea environment becomes more contested and technology moves faster, Defence needs the ability to test, evaluate and prove new capabilities at home,” Corry Neale, Chief Executive Australia, QinetiQ, said.

“The ability of deployable ranges to track underwater assets with precision will provide the Australian Defence Force with the flexibility to test and evaluate their assets in environments that provide the greatest chance of operational success,” Sean Leydon, Regional Manager Asia Pacific, Forcys, commented.

“We look forward to partnering with QinetiQ in providing underwater communications and deployed range operations to support our customers with the introduction of ever-increasing numbers of autonomous underwater vehicles.”

This collaboration supports the Australian Government’s Defence Strategic Review and AUKUS Pillar 2 objectives, advancing “sovereign industrial capability and enabling defence to assure complex undersea and multi-domain systems across allied operations”.

This move comes amid broader AUKUS efforts to deepen interoperability in autonomous undersea systems. In July 2025, AUKUS partners, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, demonstrated advanced underwater acoustic communications during Exercise Talisman Sabre as part of the Maritime Big Play series.

AUKUS partners test underwater autonomous systems

UUV/UAV

Earlier, in a November 2023 exercise off Australia’s east coast, all three nations deployed a mix of modified commercial and military autonomous undersea vehicles. That trial, dubbed Integrated Battle Problem 23‑3, underscored the growing role of uncrewed systems in undersea warfare