18 September 2023

DSEI 2023: Avon and Sonardyne work to enhance diver C2 and situational awareness

by Giles Ebbutt

The MCM100 with DiveTrack transponder. The transponder slots into the recess in the back cover of the rebreather, which is shown separate from the equipment. Note the wrist monitor and the LED head-up display in front of the mask. (Janes/Giles Ebbutt)

Avon Protection and Sonardyne have combined to develop a system that can provide command-and-control (C2) for divers when they are submerged.

The system combines Avon's widely used MCM100 multirole military rebreather with Sonardyne's DiveTrack acoustic transponder to give an underwater communications system with a range of more than 1,500 m. Speaking to Janes at DSEI 2023 in London, Ollie Clarke, business development manager underwater systems for Avon, said that the MCM100 has a suite of sensors that monitor the state of the equipment and elements of the diver's activity, such as breathing rate.

The data from these sensors is available to the diver on a wrist monitor, with an alert from an LED in a head-up display (HUD). The DiveTrack transponder has been integrated into the MCM100, enabling the sensor data to be transmitted to the dive commander on the surface. The DiveTrack also provides position and depth information, giving the commander an overall picture of the location of all the submerged team members and their state.

DiveTrack operates in the medium frequency (MF) range from 20 kHz to 28 kHz, provides three-second updates, and can communicate with up to eight divers at once. Simple text messaging is possible using preset formats. The system provides a post-mission log export facility.

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