Shorter, lighter and with a depth rating greater than its predecessor, Compatt 4, the system features a flangeless pressure housing to simplify installation into subsea transponder buckets and provide ease of handling, particularly by ROV's.

New so-called acoustic architecture is reportedly based on a combination of frequency channels and signal sequences for commanding transponders as well as for interrogation and responses, and for data telemetry from seabeds.

Sonardyne says that the system is now in production at its Yateley factory, with a number having already been sent to the Gulf of Mexico for operational deployment.