Low-cost, maritime acoustic sensors that detect incoming aircraft were showcased by the University of Hawaiʻi’s Applied Research Laboratory (ARL at UH) in front of an international audience at the 2025 Pacific Operational Science and Technology Conference Field Experimentation event (POST FX) on March 7.
Nine sensors were deployed in waters off Marine Corps Base Hawaiʻi, and the information they collected was transmitted to a computer on shore. The sensors are intended to assist Pacific Rim allies and partners in strengthening coastal defense.
This was one of more than 20 cutting-edge tech demonstrations that were showcased at POST FX, which is an annual event designed to provide a stage for demonstrations of novel and emerging technologies that engage defense innovators from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. allies and partners from around the Indo-Pacific region. It drew approximately 800 attendees from government, industry and academia spanning 10 countries. Along with participating, ARL at UH also planned, organized and executed the event.
“This is the fourth year that we’ve done this. Every year it gets bigger and it gets better,” ARL at UH Director Margo Edwards said. “This year we have 22 technologies. All of them are actually active, so it’s not just a tabletop display. There’s something that’s going on.”
Defense, surveillance, providing aid
Demonstrations aligned with innovation priorities established by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, including defense against electronic attacks, improved awareness of land, sea, and air domains, and the provision of humanitarian aid in the wake of natural disasters.
“It’s really critical that the Applied Research Laboratory continues to be a center of excellence for federating the research community around defense innovation,” said Joshua Baghdady, POST FX coordinator and ARL at UH uncrewed systems communications engineer. “It’s good for Hawaiʻi and it’s good for the Pacific Rim as we maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific with our like-minded allies and partners.”
The theme for the 2025 Pacific Operational Science and Technology Conference was “Together We Prevail.” The university’s participation emphasized its role in technology development and cooperation around the Pacific region.
“It’s really cool that we’ve been able to participate in this event,” said Matthew Nakamura, a UH Mānoa PhD candidate in mechanical engineering and graduate research assistant at ARL at UH. “I’ve been here every year, and being able to interact with folks around the world is really good to showcase UH’s capabilities.”
