Singapore deploys COMET-MCM AUV aboard Bedok-class mine countermeasure vessel

The COMET-MCM autonomous underwater vehicle. Singapore has deployed the vessel from at least one of its Bedok-class vessels. (RTsys)

A recently released Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) video on mine countermeasure operations has confirmed the operational deployment of the RTsys COMET-MCM autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) from a Bedok-class mine countermeasure vessel (MCMV).

The video shows the system being launched and recovered from the service's lead Bedok-class vessel, with RSN personnel in the video referring to it as the COMET-300, the underlying AUV platform on which RTsys' COMET-MCM mine countermeasure system is based.

Neither the RSN nor Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) have disclosed whether all four vessels in the class have received the system.

But its deployment from the lead ship of the class indicates that the capability has progressed beyond trials and evaluation into operational service.

In the video, the RSN describes the COMET-300 as an AUV equipped with sonar capabilities that is used during the detection phase of mine countermeasure operations.

According to the service, the vehicle can autonomously survey the seabed for up to 10 hours, generating high-resolution imagery over a wide area and identifying potential mine-like contacts for further investigation.

The COMET-MCM is RTsys Underwater Technologies's dedicated mine warfare variant of the COMET family of AUVs.

It is designed for the detection, localisation, and classification of underwater mines, and the system is capable of operating at depths of up to 300 m and at speeds of up to 10 kt according to product literature.

The AUV can remain submerged for as long as 20 hours depending on mission requirements and is capable of operating individually or as part of a networked fleet.