Works on a new facility in Kiel, Germany, which will help make warships invisible to magnetic mines should be completed by 2022, the German defense ministry has said.
While it is technically not possible to completely eliminate a ship’s magnetic field, degaussing cancels the ship’s magnetic distortion and helps avoid triggering magnetic mines.
The €54 million investment is to become the biggest and most modern facility of its kind in Northern Europe, according to the defense ministry.
In addition to German Navy ships, Royal Dutch Navy ships will be treated there as the Netherlands is also contributing funds for the project.
Once construction works are completed, the facility will be operated by the German technical center for ships and naval weapons, the ‘Wehrtechnische Dienststelle für Schiffe und Marinewaffen (WTD 71)’.
The facility will be able to treat ships up to 180 meters long and 25 meters wide.
This will be the third degaussing facility built in Kiel. The first one was built 1946 and used until 1980 when it was replaced by a new one.