Why Navies Are Buying Better Eyes for the Seafloor

Most of the ocean floor is still a blur to the people who most need to see it. Navies hunting for mines, energy companies checking pipelines and scientists measuring changes in seawater all run into the same wall: light fades quickly underwater. That means nearly everything below the surface has to be found with sound, carried by robots, powered by batteries and steered without GPS, which does not reach underwater. A small group of specialized suppliers builds those tools, and their biggest customers increasingly wear uniforms.

The key sensor is synthetic aperture sonar, usually shortened to SAS. Ordinary side scan sonar paints the seafloor one strip at a time. SAS instead records many pings as a vehicle moves, then uses heavy computer processing to combine them into one sharp picture. Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute have noted that SAS can produce pixels about one inch square and can see several times farther than conventional sonar at the same level of detail. That matters because a mine and an old tire can look alike from above, and operators often tell them apart by the shadows they cast. The same research points to a sobering statistic: since World War II, sea mines have damaged or sunk four times as many U.S. Navy ships as all other forms of attack combined.

Those sensors ride on unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, which range from small craft a sailor can carry to submarine-sized drones. Each one needs pressure-tolerant batteries to stay out longer, precise navigation, cameras or lasers for close inspection, and software that turns raw data into decisions. The U.S. Navy requested $142.0 million for fiscal 2026 for research and development of small and medium UUVs alone, including vehicles for expeditionary mine countermeasures. 

Seabed security has added a second reason to spend. After a string of damaged power and data cables in the Baltic Sea, NATO launched Baltic Sentry in January 2025, sending ships, patrol aircraft and naval drones to watch over cables, pipelines and offshore energy sites. Mine countermeasure ships now form part of that effort. 

That backdrop helps explain an update released today by Kraken Robotics Inc. (OTCQB: KRKNF, TSXV: PNG.V). The Canadian marine technology company said it has booked $73.1 million (CAD $102 million) in new orders since its last update on August 27th. Announced 2026 orders for Kraken and its recently acquired Covelya Group now total about $327.6 million (CAD $457 million), and more than 60% of that amount came from defense customers. 

The new orders fall into three groups. Covelya’s businesses brought in more than $39.4 million (CAD $55 million), with strength in offshore oil and gas and defense. Subsea batteries for defense UUV customers added $17.9 million (CAD $25 million). Synthetic aperture sonar contributed $15.8 million (CAD $22 million), including the largest single SAS order in the company’s history, placed by a navy it did not name. Those sonars will be fitted to man-portable UUVs for a major naval program, which the company said could produce more orders over several years. 

Covelya is the reason the order book looks so different from a year ago. Kraken completed the purchase on July 2nd for roughly $440.8 million (CAD $615 million), adding Sonardyne, EIVA, Forcys, Voyis and Chelsea Technologies. Kraken had been known mainly for sonar and batteries, while Covelya brought navigation, tracking, communications and imaging, creating a group of about 1,200 employees.

Chief executive Greg Reid said most of the recent orders should turn into revenue within the next 12 months, adding that they provide “meaningful visibility as we enter 2027.” The navy award carries weight beyond its size. Militaries usually test sensors at length before buying in volume, so a record order from one suggests the technology has cleared a demanding bar.

The next checkpoint comes later this month on the 24th, when Kraken releases third quarter results. Investors will likely watch how quickly these orders show up as revenue and how smoothly the Covelya integration is moving along.