Role & capabilities
- Persistent environmental sensing
- Acoustic-sensing trials
- Primary domain
- Underwater
- System type
- Underwater glider
- Developer / manufacturer
- Teledyne Webb Research
- Origin / production countries
- United States
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Published product data does not establish acceptance of every offered configuration.
Slocum Sentinel extends the Slocum glider concept with a larger body and greater energy capacity than the G3. Like other buoyancy-driven gliders, it changes buoyancy to move vertically and uses wings to turn that movement into forward travel. Its quoted gliding speeds therefore describe a different operating mode from a continuously propelled survey AUV.
The published data sheet presents long endurance as a design capability dependent on battery chemistry, instrument duty cycle and the surrounding environment. An advertised duration of more than two years is not treated here as a completed two-year deployment. The listed payload allowance also belongs to the quoted configuration; external arrays and other specialised integrations require their own evidence.
In February 2026 Teledyne reported a North Atlantic demonstration to NATO members involving Sentinel, passive acoustic sensing and a separate Slocum G3 communication element. That establishes a relevant trial, rather than universal service acceptance of the complete arrangement. Sentinel is therefore recorded separately from the established G3 family, with the demonstrated defence integration distinguished from the broader supplier specification.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration | Buoyancy-driven autonomous glider | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Hull / propulsion | Buoyancy engine; data sheet lists 23 kWh primary-lithium energy | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Dimensions | 2.57 m long; 0.33 m diameter | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Displacement / mass | 171 kg | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Payload | 3.5 kg listed allowance | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Endurance | Advertised 2+ years with the stated primary-lithium energy configuration | Supplier design figure; not evidence of a completed two-year deployment. Source |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Speed | 1 knot average; 2 knots maximum gliding speed | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Operating depth | 1,000 m | Published model baseline; payload, battery and conditions affect performance. Source |
| Sensors | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Communications / control | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Launch / deployment | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
Documented milestones
North Atlantic demonstration reported
Teledyne reported Sentinel participation in an autonomous acoustic-system demonstration to NATO members.
Read the announcement
Publication history
- — Published reference update.
Suggest a correction to this entry
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.