PRESS RELEASE: Proteus Maritime and Hendon Semiconductors Partner to Strengthen Australia’s Sovereign Subsea Defence Capability
Proteus Maritime and Hendon Semiconductors have signed a strategic partnership agreement to accelerate the development and delivery at scale of Proteus Maritime’s Tripwire system, an Australian seabed sensor network designed to enhance subsea situational awareness.
As Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles MP highlighted at the 2026 Shangri-La Dialogue, “The seabed is becoming a battlefield.”
Recognising this emerging strategic challenge, Proteus Maritime and Hendon Semiconductors have joined forces, combining their expertise, resources and technical capabilities to deliver innovative, Australian-made solutions for the increasingly contested subsea environment.
Tripwire is an Australian-developed seabed sensor network that creates an underwater mesh communications network, capable of providing secure, persistent and reliable long-range data to decision-makers in near real time. The partnership enables Tripwire to be delivered at scale, in Australia at an affordable price point.
The collaboration demonstrates how Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can work together and self-fund research and development in response to Defence’s evolving priorities and a deteriorating strategic environment.
The ability to translate novel technologies into scalable, sovereign manufacturing capability is critical to delivering the asymmetric advantage required in the modern battlespace.
Hendon Semiconductors brings decades of expertise in analogue and digital electronic systems, together with an established track record in Defence manufacturing, assembly and testing. These capabilities will support Proteus Maritime in scaling the production of Tripwire, ensuring the capacity, reliability and availability needed to meet evolving operational requirements.
The partnership reflects a shared commitment to strengthening Australia’s sovereign Defence industrial base and demonstrating how Australian innovation, backed by domestic manufacturing expertise, can deliver operational capability at scale.
About Proteus Maritime
Proteus is a veteran owned Australian SME focused on providing asymmetric subsea capabilities to the war fighter. Proteus Maritime specialises in enhancing subsea situational awareness.
About Hendon Semiconductors
Hendon Semiconductors is a long-established Australian electronics design and manufacturing company based in Adelaide, South Australia.
With a heritage dating back to its establishment as Philips Semiconductors in 1959, Hendon has extensive experience in semiconductor design and testing, thick-film hybrid microelectronic assemblies, printed circuit board manufacturing and electronic systems assembly.
Serving highly regulated industries including Defence, Medical and Rail, Hendon combines advanced engineering expertise with comprehensive onshore manufacturing and testing capabilities.
Hendon is committed to enabling Australian innovation by helping organisations transform novel electronic technologies into reliable, scalable and commercially viable products.
