French defence company ECA Group has completed the factory acceptance tests (FAT) for its modernised ship’s command and control (CC) system and mine identification and disposal systems (MIDS) for the Latvian Navy.
The system will soon be integrated into Latvia’s Tripartite-class mine hunter vessels (IMANTA Class) and the country’s navy will be the first to be equipped with a comprehensive drone solution from ECA Group, specifically designed to be fitted during modernisation programmes of previous generation mine hunters.
The company was contracted in 2020 for the modernisation of the mine countermeasure (MCM) capacity of the three Latvian vessels.
Under the programme, the traditional mine warfare system is completely replaced by a new command and control system and a full set of drones, all designed and manufactured by ECA Group.
The A18-M autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is fitted with ECA Group’s UMISAS sonar, the SEASCAN mine identification vehicle and the K-STER mine disposal system.
ECA Group is also in charge of the ship modification and the upgrade of the navigation system, composed of W-ECDIS warship electronic chart display and information system, Gaps M7 USBL positioning system and Phins C7 compact Inertial Navigation System by iXblue, as well as a new Autopilot by SIREHNA.
During the FAT, the ship’s command and control with W-ECDIS and autopilot, the sensors’ functionalities and interfaces were successfully tested.
In addition, during the acceptance tests, the Latvian Navy successfully performed a scenario of mine identification with the SEASCAN and firing simulation with the K-STER for mine disposal, ECA Group informed.
With this modernisation contract, 10 K-STER mine disposal systems, 2 SEASCAN mine identification systems and an A18-M mid-size AUV with their common software suite will be delivered for each of the three ships to be modernised.