On our way to track @NASAArtemis using passive SONAR. Stay Tuned

Solid-state batteries are changing naval warfare. And the threats they enable are far harder to detect. A post recently went viral claiming Iran's "Azhdar" UUV patrols at 18–25 knots with 4-day endurance and 600+ km range. This appears to be false, but the post went viral because the narrative is true. UUVs are a growing threat and maritime, as demonstrated by this crisis, is more important than ever. And the stakes are high. Iran has long held the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point; roughly 20% of global oil supply flows through a 21-mile-wide chokepoint. UUVs capable of covertly laying mines in those waters would further threaten naval assets and escalate the conflict. UUVs are already being deployed by multiple nations. Today's lithium-powered vehicles cover hundreds of kilometers and patrol for days. Solid-state batteries at 400 Wh/kg, and climbing, mean that gets dramatically better, cheaper, and more scalable this decade. Sensing underwater is categorically harder than any other domain. cUAS has radars, cameras, RF, microwave. The electromagnetic spectrum works for you in air. Water kills RF. Acoustics are the primary detection modality, and littoral environments add clutter and complexity that open-ocean legacy systems were never built for. Those legacy systems were designed to find large submarines in deep water. Not swarms of small autonomous vehicles near ports, chokepoints, and critical infrastructure. As UUVs get cheaper, faster, and more autonomous - sensing is the defining gap. cUUV is going to be a massive market. Interdiction starts with detection. And detection underwater is still largely unsolved.