Exhibition News | Day 1 (57) | Day 2 (45) | Day 3 (34) | Day 4 (37) |
Hydroid swims ahead for Recce UUV
Wednesday, 12 September, 2007
US underwater vehicle manufacturer Hydroid LLC (Stand 1831) has scored a second major success in the UK after being selected to supply a new reconnaissance unmanned underwater vehicle (Recce UUV) system to the Royal Navy. The company, offering a system based on its REMUS 600 autonomous underwater vehicle in conjunction with Babcock Design and Technology, has been awarded a GBP5.4m contract to meet the Recce UUV requirement. This follows on from an earlier success in 2005 when the company was contracted to supply its smaller REMUS 100 vehicle to the RN. Designed to operate in marine and estuarine environments in water depths between 30m and 200m, the Recce UUV will be equipped with a sophisticated navigation system and acoustic and bathymetric sensors.
The primary role of the vehicles will be the execution of mine countermeasures (MCM) reconnaissance operations, hydrographic surveys and environmental monitoring in support of other RN operations; it will have a secondary role in support of search and salvage operations. Under the terms of the contract, Hydroid will supply two REMUS 600 systems including spares, training and associated logistic support. Introduction to service is planned for spring 2009.
The contract award also covers in-service support arrangements, with Babcock Design and Technology supporting Hydroid by providing UK-based training, service and support facilities for five years following acceptance into service. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: “The MCM Recce UUV will greatly enhance existing Royal Navy MCM capability. It will not replace existing system(s) but is intended to be another ‘tool in the toolbag’ and forcemultiplier, allowing other assets to conduct operations independently.” According to the MoD, the Recce UUV will be capable of deployment and recovery from a range of vessels, although it is expected they will primarily be operated from Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels. In addition, there may be an additional requirement for the UUV to be containerised to support deployment/ recovery and transportation by sea, land or air.
The REMUS 600 vehicle, originally designed and developed through funding from the US Office of Naval Research, shares software and subsystems with REMUS 100, but offers extended endurance, increased payload capacity and greater operating depth. “We are very pleased to continue our working relationship with the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy with this agreement,” said Chris von Alt, Hydroid’s president and co-founder. “This contract further solidifies our position as a trusted supplier of multimission, multipurpose [autonomous vehicles] to many navies around the world. We look forward to helping extend the Royal Navy’s MCM reconnaissance capabilities with the proven capabilities of our technology.” Hydroid, through its representative EIVA A/S, is also supplying Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace with two REMUS 100 systems, with an option for a third. The vehicles will be delivered in 2009/2010 and will work in conjunction with three minehunting vessels, which are part of a larger MCM capability being delivered to the Finnish Navy. Kongsberg will act as supplier of the mine reconnaissance and hydrographic suite, which is integrated to the tactical system (C2) delivered by Atlas Electronics of Germany. Intermarine, Italy, is the shipbuilder and prime contractor. The REMUS 100 systems are built in Pocasset, Massachusetts, US.
|