Mitcham wins contract to install MA-X technology on AUVs.

Klein Marine Systems, a unit belonging to Mitcham Industries, will install its MA-X technology on a next-generation system for evaluation by the US Navy after securing a contract from an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) manufacturer.

Side Scan Sonar (Picture source: Klein Marine Systems)

Introduced earlier this year, MA-X technology is a cost-effective solution to filling the nadir gap that is characteristic of traditional side-scan sonar. By seamlessly covering the nadir region, MA-X based products eliminate the need for overlapping survey lines, resulting in an estimated 40% increase in efficiency.

Guy Malden, Co-CEO of Mitcham, commented, “The reaction by the industry to MA-X we believe has been nothing short of incredible. Both commercial and military customers have indicated their enthusiasm for this new technology as we have conducted a number of successful field demonstrations. We expect to deliver further orders in the coming weeks. MA-X technology can be embodied in several products, including towed-bodies for both manned and unmanned vessels, and autonomous underwater vehicle configurations. We expect the deployment of this technology to continue to gain momentum.”

For the defence sector, the company said that the MA-X technology offers a major advantage in terms of the ability to produce high-quality imagery of the nadir area, which is comparable to the traditional side scan. This facilitates the feeding of data acquired from MA-X directly into existing automatic target recognition (ATR) software, enabling the automated detection and recognition of targets of interest.

Mitcham Industries, Inc. provides technology to the oceanographic, hydrographic, defence, seismic and security industries. Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, Mitcham has a global presence with operating locations in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Hungary, Colombia and the United Kingdom. Mitcham’s worldwide Marine Technology Products segment, which includes its Seamap and Klein Marine Systems units, designs, manufactures and sells specialized, high performance, marine sonar and seismic equipment. Through its Equipment Leasing segment, Mitcham believes it is the largest independent provider of exploration equipment to the seismic industry.