Navtech Radar teams with Tocaro Blue to develop marine navigation and collision avoidance sensor for autonomous shipping

Navtech Radar, designer and manufacturer of high-precision W-band Radar systems, today announced a strategic partnership with Tocaro Blue, a developer of Machine Learning (ML) powered Radar processing solutions. This collaboration, announced at The Autonomous Ship Expo 2025 (pictured), combines Navtech's cutting-edge Radar hardware with Tocaro Blue's advanced machine learning Radar processing software to deliver a transformative marine navigation and collision avoidance sensor.

Traditional marine Radar is most effective at ranges exceeding 100m and is typically used to detect threats miles away from the vessel; it also struggles to reliably detect small objects on the water. Navtech’s unique W-band Radar offers unparalleled short-range sensing, highly relevant for use on maneuverable unmanned vessels.

The partnership combines Navtech's state-of-the-art W-band Radar technology, featuring an impressive 1000m range, centimeter-level resolution and a precise 1.8-degree beam width, with Tocaro Blue's ProteusCore™ object detection, classification, and tracking solution. With this combination of technologies, Perception Engineers can expect a sensor that offers near field awareness in all weather conditions, processed with machine learning for an automated, fusion-ready output.

“The opportunity to collaborate with Tocaro Blue is an exciting moment for the marine industry,” says Sam Wood, Segment Lead from Navtech Radar. “The partnership enables the creation of a robust, all-weather maritime perception system that delivers unprecedented situational awareness, object detection, and classification performance - redefining capability standards in the maritime domain; A critical step in supporting the transition toward increased autonomy in the marine environment.”

"Our collaboration with Navtech Radar creates an unrivaleld solution for the maritime industry," says Andrew Rains, Senior Sales Director from Tocaro Blue. "By combining their exceptional sensing capabilities with our novel ML-based processing technology, we're enabling vessels to comprehend their environment with remarkable clarity and track targets with high accuracy."

This partnership addresses the growing demand for autonomous and semi-autonomous marine vessels, where mission critical perception systems are essential for safe operation. The combination of Navtech's hardware and Tocaro Blue's processing software creates a comprehensive solution that supports advanced navigation applications across coastal & port monitoring, autonomous work boats, commercial shipping, and mission-critical maritime defense operations.

Navtech’s Radar system excels in providing high-resolution returns, offering mariners detailed environmental awareness previously unavailable in traditional S- and X-band Radar systems. Tocaro Blue's ProteusCore™ Radar Processing software is immediately compatible with Navtech’s Radars, bridging the gap between Navtech’s high-resolution returns and inputs for your perception system or autonomy stack.