SeaFox for the Royal Navy
16 January 2006 16:55
The Royal Navy will equip its 16 Mine Counter Measure Vessels with the ATLAS SeaFox Mine Disposal System.
The contract award to ATLAS' UK project partner company and prime contractor, Ultra Electronics Group, was announced in the UK by Ultra on the 9th January, 2006.
The selection of SeaFox MDS by the Royal Navy brings a significant new user of ATLAS' expendable mine destructor technology into the group of navies which has already chosen SeaFox to destroy or neutralise sea mines in their areas of operational and strategic interest. This group includes the navies of Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia. The United States Navy uses SeaFox, in an airborne-delivered variant, from its MH53 MCM helicopters.
Over the past five years or so, most navies requiring new or replacement mine disposal systems have opted for the expendable type and for these navies, ATLAS' SeaFox has predominantly been the preferred solution.
SeaFox is one of a number of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) systems designed for MCM applications by the Bremen-based ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH.
Background:
The SeaFox Mine Disposal System - designed to win the battle against mines
The SeaFox system is a mine disposal system based on the most advanced concept using the Expendable Mine Disposal Vehicle principle (EMDV). Small, unmanned underwater drones are used for direct disposal of existing and new mine types; identical, reusable vehicles (without charge) are used for inspection, identification and training purposes. The system is effective against long and short tethered mines, proud ground mines and floating mines. The SeaFox system mainly comprises a console, a launcher and the SeaFox vehicles which are extremely easy in handling due to small design length of 1.3m and a weight of 40kg. The system can be delivered as a stand-alone or a fully integrated version.
In case of stand-alone the console contains all electronics, software, displays and operating elements to guide the vehicle automatically or manually towards the target and to relocate, identify and destroy it. In the fully integrated version, a Multi Function Console or any existing console can be used.
The two different vehicles ensure quick disposal of mines during operation with the combat vehicle (SeaFox C) as well as cost-saving identification with the reusable identification version (SeaFox I).
The communication between the console and the SeaFox vehicle's sensors, such as high frequency relocation sonar, echo sounder and CCTV camera, is implemented via a thin fibre optic cable. The four independent, reversible motors plus one hover thruster ensure high manoeuvrability and exact positioning for firing the shaped charge.
For more information on this company:
ATLAS ELEKTRONIK - Sonar Systems
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