Page 85 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2022

MAY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
SEAPOWER MINEHUNTING 85
Fifteen years since its inclusion in the 2006-2016 Defence Capability Plan, Project Sea 1778 Phase 1 is now poised to provide the RAN with a deployable mine countermeasures (MCM) capability.
HILE the original schedule for in-service delivery was op- timistically set at 2015-2017, First Pass approval was not received until 2012 and an integration contract was not signed until six years later. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) is now expected in July of this year, with Final Opera-
tional Capability (FOC) anticipated in December.
This will provide a rapidly-deployable tactical capability essential to reducing the danger to a maritime task group posed by sea mines in the littoral domain while also mini-
mising the direct exposure of MCM personnel to hazards.
DEPLOYABLE MINE COUNTERMEASURES
“The Sea 1778 package of equipment is not only an impressive ca- pability in its own right but it also provides the Navy with a pathway to the future of autonomous mine warfare,” Troy Stephen, Vice President Underwater Systems for Thales Australia, told ADM.
“As prime systems integrator for Sea 1778, we’re work- ing closely with the Navy to deploy this new capability from which they can evolve and develop their conops with a view towards future capability requirements.”
Sea 1778 will serve to avoid any gap in the RAN’s minehu- nting capability with the four remaining 732-tonne Huon- class Minehunters Coastal (MHC), whose retirement has been brought forward from the 2030s to the mid-2020s.
In this regard, the timeline for the two mine warfare support vessels that are to be developed under Sea 1905 as a variant of the Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel
has yet to be announced, although an
Invitation to Register and Request for In-
formation regarding various components
of the mission management system, its
integration, and the robotic and autono- EXPECTED IN JULY mous systems required for the new ves-
sels, closed early last year.
Sea 1905 replaced Sea 1179 Phase
1, which was originally intended to ex-
tend the service life of the Huon-class IN DECEMBER” but was scrapped in favour of moving
the RAN’s MCM capability towards un-
manned and autonomous solutions.
Enter the RAN’s Mine Warfare Team 16 (MWT) – under- stood to comprise at least 27 personnel – based at HMAS Waterhen in Sydney and stood up to develop and introduce to service the new organic capability in conjunction with prime systems integrator Thales.
The latter’s role involves the seamless physical and elec- tronic installation of disparate MCM systems onto plat- forms, along with specialised training for MWT members supplemented by RAN clearance divers.
“This toolbox of mine warfare systems is a good first step that will enable the Navy to create tactics, techniques and procedures with robotic platforms and autonomy at the core. We stand ready to support Navy with the next stage of the journey which will progress towards a unified MCM system similar to what you’re now seeing in other advanced navies.
“Taking this concept of a fully integrated autonomous mine warfare capability into Sea 1905 will enable a seam- less transition from the current Sea 1778 toolbox approach,” Stephen commented.
“INITIAL OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY IS NOW
OF THIS YEAR, WITH
FINAL OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY ANTICIPATED
Shock trials on a Navy Huon-class MCM
DEFENCE