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India, Australia sign key defence pact to boost undersea surveillance
India and Australia have signed a defence agreement for undersea surveillance. It has been described as the first of its kind.
In recent years, India and Australia have deepened defence relations, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region where they have a common interest in countering Chinese hegemonic designs. Both the countries are members of Quad, which also comprises the United States and Japan.
In a statement, the Australian Department of Defence on Thursday said that India and Australia have signed their first science and technology project agreement between Australia's Defence Science and Technology Group's (DSTG) Information Sciences Division and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory.
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The agreement will form a three-year partnership to work on improving the detection and tracking of submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles.
The project will include work on 'Towed Array Target Motion Analysis' to improve the reliability, efficiency, and interoperability of current surveillance capabilities of India and Australia, according to the statement.
Australia has been working on its undersea capabilities in recent years in the wake of increasing Chinese maritime activities in the Indo-Pacific. In 2021, Australia joined the United States and United Kingdom to form the Aukus trilateral partnership to develop nuclear submarines. The future of the partnership is, however, uncertain as US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a review of the partnership.
What does this India-Australia defence pact mean?
Explaining the science behind the project, Target Motion Analysis, Amanda Bessell of Australia's DSTG's Information Sciences Division said that it is a collective term for target tracking algorithms developed to estimate the state of a moving target.
'Target Motion Analysis is the crucial element in maintaining platform situational awareness, when a passive mode of operation is required,' Bessell was quoted as saying in the Australian statement.
DSTG Senior Researcher Sanjeev Arulampalam further explained that a towed array consisted of a long linear array of hydrophones towed behind a submarine or surface ship on a flexible cable.
'We need to harness the best minds in innovation, science and technology to build new capabilities, to innovate at greater pace, and to strengthen our strategic partnerships. The hydrophones work together to listen to the undersea environment from various directions. The sound signal is passed through a signal processor, which analyses, filters and detects underwater acoustic signals emitted from maritime targets,' said Arulampalam.
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The combination of the Target Motion Analysis with the towed array system is intended to manage noise corruption and explore possible performance improvements.
The three-year India-Australia project will put novel algorithms to the test by using the strengths and shared knowledge of the two countries, the statement said.
'The project arrangement will involve the sharing of ideas, investigation trials, algorithm demonstrations and performance analysis,' said Arulampalam.
Separately, Chief Information Sciences Division, Suneel Randhawa, said, 'The output of this research program has the potential to guide the development of future algorithmic directions for our undersea combat system surveillance technologies.'
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