UK: Royal Navy to Deploy UUV’s from Its ASW Warships

On Monday 31st March, the Royal Navy took a major step forward in developing a framework to allow Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) to be deployed from its anti-submarine warfare warships.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Service and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) was signed which allows the two parties to work together in sharing ideas and developing a working strategy.

The NOC, which is based in Southampton, already has its own UUVs – also referred to as marine autonomous systems – which it uses to collect scientific data from the ocean for environmental and climate change studies.

With the information gathered, computer models can predict how the environment will change over time and – critically for the Royal Navy – how submarine and weapon sensors on frigates will respond to those changes.

Once placed in the sea by boat, the UUVs can operate for up to four months at a time, returning to the surface several times a day to send their data back via satellite.

Travelling at slow speed, UUVs can be used in oceans across the world as they have specialist equipment that allows them to adapt to warmer or colder seas.

Commodore Guy Robinson, from Navy Command Headquarters, who visited the NOC to witness the UUVs first hand, said: “I anticipate that this will develop into a most fruitful partnership for the Royal Navy and the NOC.

“This is an exciting opportunity as we develop this new area of our capability.”

Director of National Marine Facilities at the NOC, Geraint West, said: “The NOC is very pleased to be able to apply its world-leading capabilities and considerable experience in marine autonomous systems to work with the Royal Navy.

“The Natural Environment Research Council has already invested considerable funding into this area over recent years, principally through the Science Minister’s ‘Eight Great Technologies’ initiative, and working with the RN therefore makes good sense for the UK tax-payer.”

The Royal Navy does not currently have a mature UUV capability – but the work with the NOC will provide the basis for trialling and understanding how they can best be used.

Plans are underway to launch two UUVs from Royal Navy warships – one will be launched from a survey ship in the South West Approaches near Plymouth and the other from a minehunter in the Mediterranean.

“We chose the survey ship and minehunter because they both work with similar equipment,” explained Nick Hammond, the Royal Navy’s Environmental Information Officer.

“However the idea would be to have the UUVs on board the frigates which are the Navy’s anti-submarine warfare platforms.

“The information the UUVs provide would be essential to their operation and the aspiration from these trials is to demonstrate that UUVs would make a difference to anti submarine warfare.”

The NOC also uses Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) which sit on the ocean’s surface and keep contact with the UUV below.

They can stay out for the same period of time using energy from the sun, wave and wind power to keep moving – the advantage of these being that scientists can keep continual track of the UUV underwater position..

[mappress]
Press Release, April 4, 2014; Image: Royal Navy