Defence Gateway Expansion

Part I of III Parts

The United Kingdom—UK—of Great Britain—GB—Ministry of Defence’s—MOD’s—Hannah Lander was connected with Defence Sourcing Portal—DSP—request for information—RFI—on transducer components.  Attempting to respect copyright: the present article in orange-brown-italics paraphrases—if not quoted—the aforementioned RFI and then responds in black text.

DISCLAIMER

The present website ought not be confused with the MOD’s Defence Gateway linked to here, or the aforementioned DSP.  The present website expands upon certain DSP publications and encourages profitable collaboration with its readership. 

For those who would prefer to listen to this article, an online audio-video version shall be linked to here.  It is our intent to make this available after the textual article has been published. 

Graphics and data not available in the video are displayed throughout the present textual article.

UNDERWATER TRANSDUCER CAPABILITY: RFI RESPONSE OPENING

PROJECT

RQ 00 00 08 46 46,

Romeo Quebec quintuple zero, eight, forty-six, forty-six.

REQUESTS AND RESPONSES

Only information is requested.  The MOD is collecting information regarding organisations within the UK with acoustic transducer expertise.  The aforementioned organisations may comprise academia, large corporations, small-to-medium enterprises, and start-ups.

In 2026 defencegateway.xyz— d_g^x —is one start-up which represents a number of other start-ups.

One such business start-up possesses acoustic transducer or hydrophone intellectual property—IP.  The IP ranges from the second to the seventh technology readiness levels—TRL 2 to TRL 7—inclusive.

The TRLs mentioned accord with National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, evaluation.  In other words, the start-up has access to acoustic transducer formulation, know-how, proofs of concept, laboratory and field prototypes.    

RFI INTRODUCTION

As mentioned: the MOD currently evaluates the UK’s capabilities in regards to underwater—UW—transducer design and manufacture.

Although the RFI is targeted for military application, which d_g^x duly acknowledges, civil applications for the technology abound—also.  The MOD typically launches an RFI, followed by an invitation to tender, in which many organisations-or-consortia apply—and only one wins.

The winner takes all

As mentioned, d_g^x recognises this status quo, but invites all interested parties to continue to peruse the present article.  The non-winners may derive use of the IP we are about to discuss for projects other than the aforementioned RQ-00-00-08-46-46.

This may be the case independent of the particular tender winner or the MOD itself for the discussed project.  These other projects may be of military nature and with the MOD, or non-military with any other organisation.

As such, d_g^x offers an umbrella for MOD non-winning tender applicants to recuperate their efforts made in the application.  This excess of accumulated organisational energy can therefore be harvested to kick-start or re-energise new or other pre-existing projects.

d_g^x is like the popular music group: ‘One Direction’ …

For although each of its members were not found by the judges to have had the ‘X-factor’, they in whole became greater than the arithmetic mean of their parts.

Enough of this popular cultural pep-talk for now, lest the author of the present article betray their musical proclivities … Not to mention their age … Let us get back to paraphrasing and responding to our Hannah Lander connection!

Of interest to the MOD are all parts of the design lifecycle.  For example: parts of the process of design may include research into piezoelectric materials …. 

This is good, because d_g^x represents a start-up with a novelly advantageous piezoelectric material at TRL 7.  In other words, the start-ups most tried, tested, innovatively claimed IP is available and of interest. 

In addition to this, however, a different type of underwater transducer at TRL 4 specifically identifies submerged electromagnetic—EM—radiation-induced acoustic waves.  The significance of this ranges from nuclear submarine, to submerged hostile electronic surveillance device detection.  In other words:

The detection of nuclear reactor systems at long range is possible,

The detection of other detecting systems—used in hostile espionage—is possible,

And other things can be detected between the two previously mentioned types of system.

We were as surprised—as the reader may be—to learn that this proposed technology was found to be non-prejudicial to national-security.  As such, the UK intellectual property office—IPO—have not classified the technology under section twenty-two of the patents-act … For reasons unknown to us.

Hence the relevant patent application has been given a code beginning with the letters ‘GB’, Golf Bravo.  As a hint to interested parties, there is sufficient time yet to apply for international patent protection.

The potential tenderer is advised to contact us, by leaving a comment below, for more information.  As the present website’s first publication, we are as yet to set up a dedicated contact form.

Access to IP right—IPR—may yet allow the non-winner of an upcoming MOD tender to leverage collaboration with the winner.  The winner may not be able to afford to allow the as-yet-unpublished IP to develop in parallel—with their own research-and-development.

For to do so, may render the winner’s research and development prematurely obsolete.

Similarly, the MOD is welcome to contact us by leaving a comment below, for more information.  The MOD has access to all patent applications filed in the UK.

Hence formulation and know-how, that is discouraged from inclusion in the UK patent application, is available at a modest fee. 

‘modelling of transducer properties through equivalent circuits or finite element methods (FEM), measuring properties of both the device and the active material, prototyping devices, iterative design, and testing & validation.’

In this case:  the d_g^x represented start-up can measure properties, prototype, iteratively design, as well as test and validate the technology.  However, see the next response to the RFI, following the next italicised and orange-brown coloured paragraph.

Despite the small-scale low-fidelity work to TRL 7, the start-up has IP rights.  As such: the typical contractor that the MOD tends to hire may first or eventually need to acquire permission from the d_g^x represented start-up.

For production, the MOD is interested in the organisations’ abilities to manufacture transducer components.  The active elements, assembly of parts, housing are given as non-exclusive examples.

The capacity can range from:

A few prototypes

In this case, the d_g^x start-up would manufacture at least two prototypes from off-the shelf components, subcomponents, or materials.  The improvised nature of these prototypes may be surprising to the untrained eye.

Herein lies the advantage of d_g^x.  Manufacturing cost can be driven down—to the order of hundreds of pounds sterling at our present 2026 year.  

This is made possible by our low overhead, method, and of proving concepts—which can still be categorised to parameterise design-metrics.

We then reveal a low-fidelity prototype at TRL 7 to an accredited engineering firm.  The mentioned firm may charge in the order of thousands of pounds for high-fidelity at the same technology readiness level.

Delegate the initial TRL 1 to TRL 7 work to us.  The client will make a great saving and acquire a high value for money product or service.

More resources can be invested—to meet consumer-industry-standards—-once our local external certified engineering-firm reproduces a higher-fidelity model of the d_g^x prototype.  This then allows for mass-production with a national or international industry-standard manufacturer.   

‘large scale manufacture on the order of multiple thousands of units per year.  Any skills in formulating large quantities of piezoelectric materials are included in the list of topics of interest.’

Despite its size, the UK of GB seeks to position itself well amongst larger international superpowers.  By similar aspiration, a d_g^x start-up may occupy the linchpin quintessential niche in the supply chain.

Conceptualisation and its proof are essential.

IPR can be an obstacle for those who do not possess it. 

It may be cost effective to inexpensively discover what  d_g^x IP remains undisclosed before proceeding to expensively develop its like … Or that which may soon prove to be outmoded technology.

 d_g^x functions like a think-tank and prototype manufacturer.

Our personnel have a proven history of predicting technological developments—years to decades ahead—into the future.

Certain recent global technological developments have vindicated the predictions of our personnel.

The MOD desires the discovery of the research and design, as well as the manufacture of non-piezoelectric material-composed acoustic transducer elements.  As such, the MOD finds relevant acoustic transduction research for this RFI.

The d_g^x start-up can report that there are at least three types of non-piezoelectric transducer elements and systems.  These have been cleared for publication by the IPO, and as such: may already have been observed by MOD personnel.

However: for formulation and the explicit identification of non-piezoelectric devices feel free to comment below, requesting more information.  Unrestricted by section twenty-two of the patents act, the IP may eventually but somewhat qualitatively be in the public domain.  

Disclosure and patent publication may be contingent upon expressions of interest made to d_g^x.  For a quantitative analysis or formulation, the MOD is invited to request and purchase the relevant report.

‘Notes

The requirement is for organisations to voluntarily submit information about their capabilities regarding the topics specified.’

As earlier mentioned: our personnel have a proven history of predicting—years to decades ahead—future technological applications.  Certain recent global technological developments have vindicated the predictions of our personnel.

It is in this context that we submit information within this short series of articles.

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