Page 14 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2019

NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
New joint venture chases Sea 1350
AUSTRALIAN marine technology firm AMOG Ventures and French naval tech- nology specialist ECA Robotics have formed a Melbourne-based joint venture company to pursue a RAN contract worth up to $100 million.
The birth of the new 50:50 joint venture company, Advanced Magnetic Ranges Aus- tralia (AMRA), was witnessed by Victorian Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade Martin Pakula and the French govern- ment’s Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) representative for the Future Sub- marines, General Yannick Cailliez.
AMRA will bid for the RAN’s forth- coming project Sea 1350, worth between $50 and $100 million dollars, to develop a new magnetic treatment facility for the Navy. This will see Australia’s existing and new submarines and surface ships undergo a pre-deployment process called deperming, which reduces or eliminates the magnetism of a steel hull and to aid stealth, preventing
it triggering magnetic mines or attracting certain types of torpedo. All warships and submarines must undergo this process peri- odically.
The traditional deperming process sees the entire body of a ship or submarine wrapped in a massive wire coil. Electricity is then passed through the coil to reduce the magnetic ‘signature’ of the vessel – a process that can take several days.
The AMRA approach uses wire coils laid down on the sea bed, through which a specific current form is passed, as the vessel moves over the coils. This ‘over-run’ process takes less than one day and therefore pro- vides a significant operational advantage when compared to the traditional wrap- ping, which can take up to 10 days.
If successful, AMRA would install the new deperming system at Fleet Base West.
The two companies, along with Victoria- based THYCON Industrial, had previ- ously signed a preliminary Memorandum
of Understanding at the Euronaval 2018 show in Paris.
“It is great to see Victorian-based com- pany AMOG Ventures joining forces with French company ECA Robotics to estab- lish this new joint-venture, which we are delighted will be based here in Victoria,” Minister Pakula said.
“Advanced Magnetic Ranges Australia will leverage the cutting-edge capability of Victoria’s defence supply chain to bid for projects such as the ADF’s Sea 1350 Magnetic Treatment Facility. This is a great collaborative model that will help set them apart from competitors as they bid for future domestic and global mari- time projects.”
“Our innovative solution to the continu- ous challenge of deperming is based on a tried, tested, and approved method of de- magnetizing ships and submarines,” Phil- lipe Novelli, Chief Commercial Officer of ECA Robotics, said.
HMAS Newcastle docks at the Magnetic Treatment Facility (MTF) at Fleet Base West.
14 | May 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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