French Navy demonstrates Alister 100 AUV capability*

The French Navy is conducting ECA robotics-built Alister 100 lightweight autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) trials as a preliminary to receiving six AVUs over the coming months.
The 2m-long Alister 100 AUV weighs 70kg and will be used by the French Navy as underwater drones to support mine warfare missions.
In 2010, the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) had awarded a contract to ECA Group to design, develop and deliver six Alister 100 AUVs for the French Navy.
Under the contract, the company will deliver the underwater systems for the French Navy's mine disposal diver group for testing by the end of 2013.
Following completion of trials of the autonomous vehicles, the French Navy officials will use the testing results to decide whether to deploy the system for operational missions.
Capable of conducting port clearance missions, the GPD will deploy the systems for supporting missions such as a seabed survey or reconnaissance, as well as advanced operations including in very shallow water, or for channel assault.
The AUV, which can be operated by two sailors sitting on a dock or onboard an inflatable boat, is fitted with advanced systems and sensors to provide an accurate navigation capability for the navy to detect potential underwater mines.
In addition to supporting minehunting operations, even in narrow sea areas such as channels or inlets, the autonomous underwater vehicle can be used to exchange of information with other combat systems used for mine warfare.
The vehicle is also equipped with a Klein-type sonar, designed to operate on different frequencies, in order to support either sensing range or image definition, depending on operational circumstances.

* Notícia publicada a Naval Technology. El camp dels sistemes no tripulats continua en augment. Certament, poder confiar les tasques de desminat a aquests sistemes pot salvar moltea vides.

Lithuanian Navy commissions Royal Navy’s two former minehunter vessels*

The Lithuanian Navy has received and commissioned the UK Royal Navy's two former Hunt-class ships into its fleet during a ceremony held at the Klaipeda naval base, Lithuania, following an extensive Thales UK-led refurbishment and reactivation programme.
The Royal Navy's former Hunt-class ships HMS Dulverton and HMS Cottesmore were renamed to LNS Skalvis and LNS Kuršis respectively, and have been equipped with minehunting capabilities by Thales for the Lithuanian Navy.
Thales UK naval business head Ed Lowe said: "The commissioning of LNS Skalvis and LNS Kuršis now gives the Lithuanian Navy a world-class, cutting-edge minehunting capability that really is second to none."
Earlier, the UK Ministry of Defence's (MoD) Disposals Services Authority (DSA) placed orders with Thales to refit the two former British minehunters for delivery to the Lithuanian Navy.
The contract involved modernisation of the platforms and installation of a new combat system including Sonar 2193, Thales MCUBE command and control system, advanced hull-mounted wideband minehunting sensor system, propulsion, degaussing, mine disposal, machinery control and surveillance systems."The commission gives the Lithuanian Navy a world-class, cutting-edge minehunting capability."
The majority of the reactivation work on the vessels has been carried out at A&P Falmouth shipyard in Cornwall, UK while Thales-led team for the programme includes Finning, Polyamp, ECA and Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine.
The 750t Hunt-class ships have a beam of 10.5m, draught of 2.2m and provide a very low magnetic signature for mine countermeasure operations.
Capable of accommodating a crew of 45 with five officers, the vessels feature Thales Sonar 2193 hull-mounted wide band sonar to support both minesweeping and minehunting as well as patrol missions.
Powered by two 1.42MW Ruston-Paxman 9-59K Deltic diesel engines driving two shafts, the Hunt-class ships are armed with MSI DS 30B 30mm naval gun to fire 0.36kg shells in single-shot or burst firing up to 650 rounds a minute.

* Notícia publicada a Naval Technology. La Marina de la República de Lituània continua el seu procés d'ampliació i modernització. Un exemple per prendre'n nota.

IMCMEX 2012 kicks off in Middle East *

The International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) 2012 is now under way in the Middle East to demonstrate the collaborative defence efforts in mine detection and clearance missions.

Involving navies from more than 30 countries, the exercise aims to strengthen relationships among the participating nations and enhance mine countermeasures interoperability.

In the first stage of the exercise, there will be a conference where participating navy units can exchange ideas and demonstrate the latest mine hunting, sweeping and neutralisation technologies.

The second stage involves tactical execution of missions by the ships, crews and observers. as well as conducting at-sea manoeuvres in the Arabian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean.

Rear admiral Kenneth, commander of Perry Task Force 522 and exercise director, said: "Everyone here at IMCMEX 12 understands that countering the threat posed by mines is a critical mission to ensure security in the maritime domain."

Pentagon press secretary George Little said: "This is a defensive exercise aimed at preserving freedom of navigation in the international waterways of the Middle East and aimed at promoting regional stability in the US Central Command area of responsibility."

CENTCOM commander general James Mattis said: "IMCMEX 12 demonstrates the international community's ability to work together to ensure free and secure trade."

The crew will conduct mine hunting operations, helicopter mine countermeasure operations, international explosive ordnance disposal mine hunting and diving operations, as well as small boat operations focused on underwater improvised explosive devices.

IMCMEX 2012 is scheduled to be held from 16-27 September.

* Notícia publicada a Naval Technology.

U.S. Doubling Minesweepers in Arabian Gulf*

The mine countermeasures ship Scout, seen detonating a simulated mine in an exercise, will be joined by four more minesweepers as the U.S. Navy beefs up its mine forces in the Persian Gulf. (U.S. Navy)

By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS

Four more minesweepers and four more minesweeping helicopters are to be sent to the Arabian Gulf, the U.S. Navy’s top officer said March 15, a move which will increase the number of mine countermeasure forces available to keep open the sea lanes around the Strait of Hormuz should Iran choose to mine that critical waterway.

“We are moving four more minesweepers to the region, making eight,” Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations (CNO), told the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee during a Navy budget hearing. “We want to improve our underwater minehunting capability.”

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Greenert declined to say when the ships or helicopters would leave for the region. “That’s operations,” he said.

But he confirmed the mine countermeasures ships would make the journey from their base in San Diego to Bahrain aboard heavy-lift ships, the Navy’s preferred way to get the slow-moving minesweepers, which have a top speed of about 14 knots, to the operating region without unnecessary wear and tear on their hulls and machinery.

Heavy-lift ships are themselves rather slow, meaning it will likely be some weeks before the ships could get to Bahrain.

Greenert demurred when asked if the move was a surge, similar to when forces are built up for specific operations. “I’m not going to define it as a surge,” he said. “You called it a deployment, how’s that.”

Initially, the CNO said, the ships’ crews would not be rotated, as is the case on other ships in the region.

Four minesweepers already are based with the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain under a “forward-deployed” arrangement. The ships remain in the region year-round, while their crews rotate in and out at six-month intervals from the mine force’s home base in San Diego.

The four ships to be deployed from San Diego, Navy sources said, are the Sentry, Devastator, Pioneer and Warrior. In the Arabian Gulf, they’ll join with the Scout, Gladiator, Ardent and Dextrous. Left in San Diego will be only two ships, the Champion and Chief.

Four other Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships are forward-deployed to Sasebo, Japan — the Avenger, Defender, Guardian and Patriot.

The 1,379-ton minesweepers, crewed by 84 sailors, employ the SLQ-48 mine neutralization system to identify and destroy a variety of enemy mines. Support for the system, however, has waned in recent years as Navy planners looked ahead to new systems that would be operated by the Littoral Combat Ship. But the new systems remain in development, and mine force sailors have struggled to keep their SLQ-48s operationally capable.

The decline in mission effectiveness led to an urgent needs requirement last year from Central Command (CENTCOM), the combatant commander authority that oversees the Arabian Gulf region, demanding a more effective mine countermeasures system. The choice was SeaFox, from Atlas Elektronik and Ultra Electronics, used by all British Royal Navy minehunters. Britain also maintains several minehunters in the gulf region, where they regularly operate with the U.S. ships.

The U.S. Navy is buying three Seafox sets for its ships, along with upgrading six Seafox aircraft units for use with MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters. Those new systems are not scheduled to be operational until early next year. The Navy could not immediately provide details on the additional helicopters that will be sent to Bahrain. Both helicopter mine countermeasures squadrons, HM-14 and HM-15, are based in Norfolk, Va.

Navy planners have been considering how to provide continuing support to a mine countermeasures force operating around the Strait, nearly 400 miles from Bahrain. The Ponce, an older amphibious ship that was to have been decommissioned this winter, is being refurbished in Norfolk for use as an afloat-forward staging base specifically to support mine forces, and the Navy is hoping to build two new ships for the role.

Conversion work on the Ponce began last month. It is not clear if the Ponce is being figured into the mine force deployment involving the extra minesweepers and helicopters.

The plus-up in mine forces comes even as the Navy continues working to meet a CENTCOM surge requirement to maintain two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region to support operations ashore. The Navy has been able to keep two flattops on station about 70 percent of the time, although that pace of operations is straining ships, aircraft and people.

The surge has been in place since mid-2010. Adm. Gary Roughead, the former CNO, said early in 2011 that the pace could be maintained for two years, but the demand shows no sign of letting up. Asked if the fleet could continue the “2.0” requirement, Greenert was adamant. “We can maintain it well through this year and into next,” he told reporters. “There’s a price for that,” he cautioned. “What is the impact on other deployments, on maintenance, on the training, if you want to sustain that. That’s the debate that we’ll continue to have.”

* Notícia publicada a Defense News. L'increment de la dotació de pesca-mines al Golf prova de nou la fermesa del compromís dels Estats Units en mantenir l'Estret d'Ormuz obert.

Gulf Chokepoint: Seafox Saves the Day?*

Seafox Mk.II
(click to view full)

 Rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, coupling increasingly bellicose actions by Iran with pointed American warnings, have left international navies thinking hard about how to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for oil traffic. Naval mines, which can be laid by submarines or boats, remain one of the most difficult and inconvenient threats to counter. That was true during the last set of armed clashes between the USA and Iran in the 1980s. It remains true, and the USA has weakened its position by retiring its modern Osprey Class minehunter ships. Some are available for reactivation in an emergency, but their place was supposed to be taken by the MH-60S helicopter’s Airborne Mine Counter-Measures (AMCM) system.

The USA is looking to bolster its defenses in the Straits, but AMCM isn’t quite ready yet. That leaves them looking elsewhere for urgent operational buys. While countries like China counter mines using unmanned ships, the US Navy is turning toward a widely-bought German UUV…

These would help, too…
(click to view full)

 

Feb 17/12: Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors in Syracuse, NY receives a not-to-exceed $45.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract for operational “AN/SQQ-32” Airborne Mine Neutralization System-SeaFox (AMNS-SF) refurbishment and overhaul; Shipboard Mine Neutralization System-SeaFox (SMNS-SF) integration, testing and production; and Atlas SeaFox neutralizer rounds. $15.1 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

The Pentagon’s use of “SQQ-32” in its release is confusing. That designation refers to an active mine hunting sonar provided by Raytheon and Thales, and which equips MCM ships like the Osprey Class.

EADS/TKMS subsidiary Atlas Elektronik’s Seafox C mine-hunting UUV is deployed by 10 nations, and can be launched from ships or helicopters. An integrated homing sonar helps the UUV re-locate identified objects of interest, and the fiber optic tether sends camera pictures back while taking operator commands. The Seafox contains a large shaped charge warhead, which can be used to destroy targets at the operator’s discretion. A Cobra attachment can be used to improve its effectiveness against floating or drifting mines, which Iran has used often in the past. 

The MH-60 AMCM system’s AMNS/Archerfish is similar, and is in early production, but it does not have the same flexibility against drifting mines, and is not yet fielded in numbers. Seafox’ approach also allows the US Navy to use a combination of helicopters and serving ships, for a more widely distributed response.

This contract was not competitively procured, as Lockheed Martin is the sole designer, developer, and producer of the SMNS-SF and AMNS-SF systems that integrate Atlas Elektronik’s Seafox with American equipment. That makes them the “only source capable of upgrading and integrating systems with the Atlas SeaFox neutralizer onto the host platforms in the time required to meet urgent operational need.” US Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC manages the contract (N00024-12-C-6306).

* Article publicat a Defense Industry Daily. Les presses en l'adquisició de nou material per confinar l'amenaça de les mines, demostren que aquest tipus d'armes, lluny de ser cosa del passat, segueixen sent una amenaça ben present.

HMS Bangor returns home from Libya mission*

The Faslane-based Sandown Class minehunter was welcomed home by families and friends who braved the bitterly cold winds and heavy rain as she sailed into HM Naval Base Clyde this morning, 25 November 2011.

 

Rear Admiral Chris Hockley, Flag Officer Scotland Northern England & Northern Ireland (FOSNNI) was on hand to congratulate the ship’s company on their latest deployment.

HMS Bangor sailed to the Mediterranean in June in support of the NATO Operation Unified Protector off Libya. Her tasks involved scouring miles of sea bed off the Libya coast as the battle between rebels and Colonel Gaddafi raged.

The painstaking work led to her finding a 2,400-pound (1000kg) mine and a torpedo lying on the seabed off the port of Tobruk in eastern Libya. Both were safely destroyed using the ship’s Sea Fox system – an underwater drone armed with explosive charges.

Lt Cdr Neil Marriott, Commanding Officer, said,

“HMS Bangor’s Ship’s Company has produced some excellent results during the past five months off the coast of Libya and their efforts have significantly aided the safety of Libyan civilians.

 

"They have spent in excess of 120 days at sea, of which 37 were within range of Pro-Gadaffi Forces’ weapons whilst clearing safe routes for merchant traffic and the delivery of Humanitarian Aid, and cleared 2 pieces of ordnance off the coast of Tobruk.”

 

Bangor did not lose a single day’s work to defects or breakdown during the summer, despite sailing hundreds of miles at a time and working round the clock.

Initially bound for duties with NATO in the North Sea, she was retasked to work in the Mediterranean.

Ops Room Supervisor, Petty Officer Steve 'Stirling' Moss, said:

"When we're mine hunting we have several people watching the screens for any contact.

"On the Tobruk task we saw several items which looked about the size of a mine, and two of them turned out to be real.

 "It's not a regular thing to happen, so we're really pleased we found them and we were able to destroy them."

 

After Colonel Gaddafi fell the operational pace dropped, and Bangor was able to complete the final mine hunting task into Sirte.

NATO operations concluded on the 31 October and she commenced her way home. She stopped in Gibraltar off southern Spain last weekend, where sailors could run to the top of the rock ahead of a Remembrance service where a wreath was laid at the territory’s Cenotaph. Lt Cdr Marriott said:

“For many, this was their first operational deployment or time away from family and friends, and they are all deserved of their forthcoming leave following the very successful mission, for which they should be rightly proud.”

 

Commander David Bence, the Commanding Officer of the First Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCM1) at HMNB Clyde, said:

“Today sees Faslane welcome home a Minehunter from active service in the Mediterranean.

"Her contribution to the NATO mission off Libya has been outstanding and has been far in excess of expectations.

"HMS Bangor’s ships company epitomise everything that is great about our men and woman, from their stoic response to her short notice activation to the professional and flexible manner in which they conducted operations; the country, the RN and their families should be proud.”

*Notícia publicada al lloc web oficial de la Royal Navy.