Three world-class autonomous minesweeping systems will detect and destroy sea mines on dangerous naval operations for the Royal Navy, thanks to a £25m contract announced today.
The system will allow personnel to neutralise mines from a remote and safe distance.
Defence Minister Jeremy Quin said:
“This next-generation autonomous technology will be instrumental to our goal of protecting the safety and security of our personnel, while also reaffirming the UK’s unwavering commitment to improve the safety of international waters.”
The Ministry of Defence say that each SWEEP system comprises an Autonomous Surface Vessel that tows a sensor unit behind it.
“The unit uses magnetic, acoustic and electric technology to identify and neutralise different types of sea mines. The system is controlled by a Portable Command Centre which can be based at sea or on land. The technology, which has been developed in the UK, can be rapidly deployed by land, sea and air and will offer increased protection to military and commercial vessels.”
DE&S CEO Sir Simon Bollom said:
“This cutting-edge SWEEP technology follows hot on the heels of the contract negotiated for equally innovative autonomous minehunters and provides the Royal Navy with the increased capability they need to deal with modern mine threats.”
The first system will be delivered in late 2022 and will enter operational evaluation before service at a later date.
I’m sure they’re wonderful. But they don’t look it do they? More like a cheap commercial workboat with an ugly mast stuck on it.
Will these have the stability to work in the north Atlantic in January? Genuine question… I’m sure they’ll be great in the gulf.
That was my first thought so I would suggest they would be specialist coastal water units. Back in the 50’s and 60’s the RN operated the Ham Class inshore minesweeper of 120 tons (they built 93 of them!). I would see these new systems fulfilling a similar role with the added flexibility of being small enough to be shipped around the global by sea or, more importantly, by air. This could be quite a useful capability.
To meet the need for deep water clearance obviously something different would be needed. However, my understanding is that minelaying is usually undertaken in choke points which tend to be shallower e.g. port approaches, narrow channels such as the Dover Straights, but this might change as new technology comes on stream. Laying mines in the North Atlantic is likely to definately a long shot if you are trying to disrupt the Sea Lines Of Communications (SLOC’s). Dropping or saying you have dropped mines in the Dover Straights or Strait of Hormuz would stop merchant shipping in a heart beat and require a lot of effort to restore confidence to the merchant fleet to venture back into the effected areas.
Cheers CR
Not sure about operations in the North Atlantic, but North Sea, or Pentland Firth, tried that on Helmsdale and Archer out of Dundee. Still remember first time going out on Helmsdale three days of my head over the side feeding the fish. Or maybe it was just the smell from the galley.
Just been checking the ATLAS site, it seems that these boats can operate in sea state 4 conditions which is moderate with waves upto 2.5 m with a 13knt wind.
However, if the mast can be made to fold then they could be an asset to the T31/T32 fleet.
Off topic here folks but just a quick note, could we please stop the bickering. I noticed the other day when I was checking something on Wiki, (yes I know but I use the refrencing) that UKdefencejournal was refrenced with links not only to the article but to the posts as well. This is in many ways a good thing as we can get our thinking across to those in charge. It is not good however if we go around calling each other names. So come on folks, if we want to get our points over then we need to be more aware of who is reading our comments. I know I for one do try, I have taken my MP to task, given written and verbal evidence in support of the RM and the Albions to defence commities and trying to finish my PhD in Naval History. So I do try to get it right or think sometimes out of the box. As do many off the folks on this site. We all love our country, and want a strong but affordable defence. So lets be more aware and respectful.
Hi Ron,
Good last paragraph I fully endorse as a former defence analyst I believe that keeping it respectful and as far as possible accurate is important for the reputation of the site and all of us who post.
We all make mistakes from time to time, but correcting someone with respect and in a helpful rather than sarcastic manner will only improve the quality of the site.
Cheers CR
Archers in a sea way are not good. Took on out of Liverpool Uni and was fine in really bad weather… one out of Brighton well I like you spent a day feeding the fish until we got into Weymouth where I went home for the night. ( I lived there at the time)
Hi Gunbuster, hope you had a good new year, as for the Archers, I enjoyed the flying bridge, and they never really caused to much trouble unless I was stupid and got the crew Indian food and some beers for the overnight stays. Bad idea. But the Rivers, even on a calm mirror pond I would upchuck. How much wood could a wood chucker chuck comes to mind every time I think about that damned boat. I’m bloody sure that if I put her on wet grass she would rock and roll. Ah the good days, never mind that she was all metal going after mines, which idiot thought of that.
Great stuff. Presumably a proof of concept for a wider order. The ageing MCMVs were starting to become a concern re: replacement, thats a relief
The hulls on UK MCMVs probably have at least another 30+ years left in them. The GRP is sound and lasts for a ridiculous amount of time. Equipment inside the vessel is constantly upgraded. New engines , command systems and sonars in Hunts, upgraded sonars, command systems and DG engines in Sandowns.
If the UK disposes of any vessels they will be sold on to other operators to use. Plenty of nations use ex RN Sandowns and Hunts and they will have decades of life left in them.
Unmanned sweep boats are not going to go out into the Atlantic proper.
Deep water sweeping is not a practical solution. For deep water you need to use mine hunting. Hence the current Sandown MCMV boats have a VDS minehunting sonar that they lower out of the vessel down to a deep operating depth and physically look for mine targets.
Combined Influence sweeping is ideal and is quick for shallower areas. However there are disadvantages to sweeping over hunting
The classic tethered buoyant mines (round with horns or sensor wires) are swept using mechanical/explosive cutters that cut the tether wire and the mine floats to the surface. You can then dispose of it with a charge or even shoot it.
If the target is a ground mine ( Sits on the bottom with no tether) or riser ( releases a buoyant warhead that may have a homing capability such as CAPTOR mines) then it will be programmed with a specific ships signature (acoustic, pressure, magnetic are the most common) it may ignore the influence sweep if it doesn’t match its pre programmed parameters. It may also have a counter or timer that will ignore contacts until a number of passes over the mine or a time period has expired or even combine both.
Mine sweeping and hunting requires intelligence on what the target mine capabilities are so Clearance Divers will still be needed to go look at any potential target mines.
You need to be able to simulate magnetic, acoustic, pressure, electrical signatures of any target vessels. You also need to keep going making numerous passes to ensure that all mines have been neutralise.
Preventative measures make targeting a vessel difficulty. RN vessels when entering and leaving harbours turn off there signature reduction equipment so that an enemy cannot fingerprint a ship. When at sea they get turned on and the ships signature is reduced and altered. Measuring the fingerprint of a vessel is undertaken in the UK at specific and dedicated underwater ranges and a report generated giving recommendations and possible new settings that a ship needs to use to reduce its signature. By doing this you reduce the chance of an enemy getting a signature fingerprint and using it in a mine.
Great knowledge Gunbuster….thanks for sharing…….Ian
I was at one point Base maintainer and Tag Workshop CPO for the Combined Influence Sweep System that was fitted to Hunts when I was working Small Ships in Pompie.
That mag sweep part of the system system had around 4000 Amps modulated and pulsed into various waveforms going through a loop of buoyant cables towed by the Hunt. Added to that was a Towed Acoustic Generator which weighed in a a couple of tons . It was an electrically driven titanium blockrd hydraulic engine the generated AF and LF sound out in the 100s of Db range again at various levels and waveforms Workshop testing used to shake the whole building!
On the sweeper It was suspended in the water below a massive float towed behind the vessel. Monitoring the sound in the water was a TAM which was a towed acoustic monitor which ensured that you where putting out the required noise levels.
When sweeping on a Hunt, with everything out, TAG, Mag Sweep, Cable Cutters,TAM, floats , otters and kites it was a snakes wedding if it got tangled during recovery. It would appear that the new system wont have that problem which is definitely a good thing.
Stop bluffing Harold, you have already previously stated you have never served in any capacity in the military, in any branch of service. Oh dear the troll is forgetting his previous stories, which begs the question, there are a number of Harolds operating this avatar, and with the different writing style you have just verified to all you are a troll account. Sad, how sad.
3 replies, your angry old man, thats a bit of a sign you have been caught out. Hilarious. And you have already posted many times you have nerver served. You realy must remeber the chuff you trolls post.
No you didn’t serve, you’ve already stated that in quite a few posts, and no you didn’t know a boomer from an SSN, and is that abuse the best you can do? None of your chuff adds up date wise from what you have claimed previously. In the US they call it stolen glory, over here we call you a walt! And yet again, dear oh dear oh….dear.
Oh dear…..gotcha.
Oh dear, oh dear and yet again oh dear…..quite sad.
3 replies, 2 quite similar but each with an attempt to remedy spelling errors, the third with minimal errors but an extra few lines. How many Harolds are running this troll, poss bot account.
And you claim to have operated on a type14, which was an ASW asset, yet you mis -identified on another story a nuclear powered attack sub with being a ballistic missile boomer. Oh dear, oh dear and yet again, oh dear…….
Dear oh dear, and oh dear.
?
Mate I know I should leave him alone, but he has no friends! Its hard to ignore such blatent chuff, stupidty and blind ignorance and refusal to acknowledge his previous statements. Even his stated age and timeframes just dont add up…..He is now not only a troll mate, he is now a Walt.
Sad Walt.
He has lost whenever he posts unless that post is sensible, free of loathing of the UK, and actually makes pertinent points on the subject matter rather than dismissing reality.
If a 5th columnist stood on a street corner broadcasting blatant propaganda through their microphone they would incite a response. Here is no different. I know most thankfully ignore but if one must reply then go ahead and enjoy yourself!
Hehe, I’ve enjoyed this little squabble. Thanks guys, it has brightened up my evening! One of you does sound a little bit hysterical though…
Thank you I do my best to prevent him from eating crayons.
You are a lying rUSSian B**tard, troll H!
Brilliant news to hear and I hope we make further orders