NAVAL DRONES

This year's United States FIFTH Fleet's International Mine Countermeasures Exercise is well underway in Middle East waters, running until 13 November.  This third iteration of the exercise will be the largest ever, with 6,500 sailors from 44 nations and 38 ships participating.  As with past exercises , unmanned undersea vehicle detachments from several countries will show off their latest hardware in a realistic operating environment.  A total of 19 UUVs will take part in the waters of the Arabian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the northern Red Sea.  On the U.S. side, a focus will be placed on overcoming unmanned mine-countermeasures challenges including the transfer of sensor data at sea, reducing unmanned mission duration, and enhancing trust in autonomy.   One of the new unmanned technologies to be demonstrated during the exercise is Northrop Grumman's Mine-Hunting Unit (MHU) .  The MHU unmanned surface vehicle tested  its ability to deploy, tow, and...

In the July issue of Proceedings  (membership required), Royal Navy Commander John Craig argues for the retention of the U.S. Navy's mine countermeasures fleet primarily because unmanned underwater vehicles cannot replace them.  CDR Craig certainly has the credentials to comment smartly on this subject, having recently commanded Britain's 2nd Mine Countermeasures Squadron (2MCM). Bottom mine seen from SeaFox system camera (RN Photo) The U.S. Navy eventually plans to dispose of its MCM ships (the MHC class mine hunters were previously decommissioned in the 2000s) with the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) embarked with unmanned MCM systems as a planned replacement.  Regardless of the wisdom of this decision, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) have been embraced by the U.S. and other modern navies, and are being acquired at a rapid pace.  The gradual shift towards unmanned MCM systems is likely a reflection of shrinking defense bu...

Unmanned naval systems played a significant role during last year's International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX). This year, more than 40 nations will operate 18 Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) in the Persian Gulf during what has become arguably the world's premiere mine counter-measures demonstration.  IMCMEX 13 has also been expanded to include maritime infrastructure protection (MIP) and maritime security operations (MSO) mission sets.  The exercise is breaking new ground both in platforms and tactics. As with MCMEX 12,  USS Ponce will be a major focus area, demonstrating trials of various sorts of mother ship configurations to expedite the deployment of UUVs into suspected mine fields.  This experimentation offers a hedge to mitigate risk against the still yet to be operational Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) mine warfare mission package.  Conceivably, a well-deck equipped amphibious ship...

PALMDALE, Calif. (Aug. 8, 2012) Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert observes a fly-by demonstration of a Predator C Avenger unmanned aerial vehicle. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter D. Lawlor/Released) In a nod to maritime tradition, the new Chief of Naval Operations set forth a " Navigation Plan " with budgetary priorities and a route to achieve the vision he set in the " Sailing Directions " for 2013-2017.  Admiral Greenert's prioritization of unmanned systems for the U.S. fleet in these documents is anything but archaic.  Seven of the CNO's 34 budget focus areas directly address unmanned systems, including: "Increase near-term mine warfare capability with Quickstrike mines; the Seafox Mine Neutralization System ; upgraded MCM-1 class ship sonar, hull, and engineering upgrades; and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) for shallow and bottom mine detection. Improve near-term cap...

Earlier this week, navies from over 30 nations began the International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) 12.  As discussed here previously , unmanned naval systems increasingly play a role in reducing the risk to sailors engaged in mine clearance operations and IMCMEX provides a realistic testing opportunity for this equipment.  Before the operational part of the exercise got underway, participants had an opportunity to scope out some of the latest mine hunting technology in Manama, Bahrain.  Some multimedia highlights: FIFTH Fleet IMCMEX Video featuring snippets of SeaFox, Kingfish, and a VideoRay ROV.  U.S. Navy video by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Blake Midnight/Released)  Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force Officers listen to a demonstration of the Bluefin-9 Shallow Water AUV in Manama, Bahrain. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communications Specialist Joshua L. Treadwell/Released) ...

Royal Navy Sailors display a SeaFox UUV. It is common knowledge that mines have damaged more U.S. Navy ships than any other weapon since World War II.  During the same period, however, the Navy's focus on Mine Warfare  has waxed and waned.  The looming possibility of Iranian mines closing the Strait of Hormuz has once again put mine-countermeasures (MCM) on the upswing.  The Navy's future MCM force will be based on the Littoral Combat Ship and her MCM mission package which has yet to be deployed operationally.  In the meanwhile, the venerable fleet of Avenger Class minesweepers will provide the bulk of this important capability.  Four of the fiberglass-sheathed, wooden-hulled MCMs arrived in the Gulf in June to bolster the four ships already forward deployed to Bahrain.  Although t he average age of these ships is over 23 years, their hull, mechanical, electrical, and combat systems suite...