Minehunter HMS Blyth and other NATO warships ‘let rip with live ammo’ and thwarted waves of simulated assaults by drones on and above the waves as part of a training exercise.
The Royal Navy say that the MULTEX range off the Sjaelland Odde peninsula – about 50 miles northwest of the Danish capital – is run by the Danish Navy, who operate aerial drones and automated boats as realistic moving targets, as well as more traditional floating targets for ships to aim at.
“The minehunter and her four international comrades thwarted waves of assaults by drones on and above the waves giving gunnery teams across the force the best possible workout. Blyth is assigned to NATO’s Mine Counter-measures Group 1 – five ships, more than 200 sailors committed to safety, security and international partnerships in the waters of northern Europe, with the emphasis on mine warfare.
To stop an attacker in his tracks, Blyth alone can call upon a 30mm main gun, .50 calibre heavy machine-guns, Minigun Gatling guns, standard machine-guns and finally small arms in the hands of the ship’s Standing Sea Response Force.”
The NATO force commander, Commander Jan Wijchers, was quoted as saying:
“The opportunity to train force protection against a realistic and moving threat within a formation is rare. Therefore the MULTEX range was excellent training for the group.”
The group recently departed Kiel and is now heading deeper into the Baltic for further exercises
You can read more here.
“and finally small arms in the hands of the ship’s Standing Sea Response Force.”
Shit has got VERY real if you’re relying on Jolly Jack blasting away with his SA80.
Does anyone know if the 30mm has airburst proximity capability? If not these mine counter measure ships have jack all hope of shooting down an aircraft.
Realistically probably very shit chance but mathematically there must be a small chance of a direct hit from a 30mm causing attack ending damage
Good evening all.
These vessels are so unprotected against pretty much anything with teeth. I suspect this is part of the reasoning behind the Type 32 frigate… drones and containerised equipment for the mine-hunting role, while having a frigate-esque armament, range, facilities etc to be able to defend itself.
Really looking forward to seeing what comes out of the competitive design phase for the T23.
M@
Me too (Type 32 not 23 ) …. Interesting times ahead.
Ugh… Thanks for the correction mate! Must have typed T23 so many times on my phone it now autocorrects when I say T32. Either that or my phone doesn’t believe we’ll ever see a T32 hit the water lol.
The 30 mm is a standard MSI 30 mm mount and is manually aimed.
As things go the RN Sandown and Hunts are far better armed than most other MCMVS .
The USN Avengers or instance don’t have anything bigger than a 50 cal on them.
An MCMVs primary role is minhunting so it needs to have a low mag signature (Sandown) or a Non-mag signature (Hunt) and sticking much more than a low mag 30mm on them kind of defeats the object.
Hadn’t thought about the magnetic side of the problem, that really does limit the teeth to nothing deck penetrating or any armament with a big steel mounting system
SIgnature management is a major task on an MCMV. Mag signature and acoustic signature are all regularly measured on a range at fixed periods and also measured real time onboard to ensure it is as low as.possible.
The requirements are strict and exacting. Even alongside what comes onto the ship is strictly controlled …The shoreside warehouses that store the spare parts are specially certified and only keep spares stored in a certain way to stop the earth’s magnetic field or things like power cables inducing magnetism into spare parts..
Yeah as soon as you said it I got the “durrrrr” moment in my head, we have to limit electric and magnetic interference at work all the time just never associated MCMV with having the same problem, always understood that was the reason for composite hulls just never thought about inside the hull ??♂️
Really good point Gunbuster. We read all this stuff about mission containers on T31 & T32 frigates replacing the MCMVs. Well unless it is very autonomous kit the magnetic signature of these large GP frigates will end in trouble. Having said that, I had a glass-fibre dinghy once and that didn’t end well either…
The T31/32 will stand way outside the mine zone.. it can then launch the drone boats to survey and hunt for mines. Once an area is sanitised it will move closer then its a repeat operation. That’s pretty much what happens now but instead of using a boat full of mine warfare muppets the boats will be unmanned as they move into a mine field. In addition the drone boats can continue to hunt 24/7. The boats don’t get tired, dont need to use the head, go for stand easy, don’t need to eat or sleep or get jobbed for… Read more »
And if a suspect vessel gets a bit too close, it can make its way back to the frigate for protection. Honestly I’m really excited about the T32 prospect and can’t wait to read more about it. As with anything though, test, test, test. Great comments guys, I always enjoy reading what you have to say.
Cheers
M@
Good evening Gunbuster
As a knowledgeable voice on naval vessels, do you believe that Type 32 is genuine or did a politician miss speak and should of said Type 31
Thanks Ian
Who knows…until the Defence review comes out we won’t know anything