By Neil Hodges, BZG Director – Mine Warfare Specialist

A quarter of a century ago ADI (now Thales) was deep into the program to construct six Royal Australian Navy Minehunter Coastal ships. Based on the Gaeta design, the MHC ships have served the Navy well and arguably continue to provide the safest capability for those times when ships must enter a minefield. The Swedish OEM company SAAB Underwater System (now SAAB Dynamics) was chosen to provide the mine neutralisation system.

After a competitive assessment, the RAN choose the powerful Double Eagle Mine Disposal System for its unlimited endurance provided by continuous power from the ship to the remote-controlled vehicle via a tether. The power gives the vehicle the ability to operate in strong currents and the unlimited endurance allows the ship to safely prosecute and if necessary, neutralise a target. SAAB built the Swedish designed Double Eagle Mine Disposal system in Australia and has supplied Double Eagle to more than twelve navies in multiple variations. In Australia, the system completed a comprehensive test and trials program to prove its ability to operate in the harsh environmental conditions the RAN operates in. The delivery consisted of 14 mine disposal vehicles and inboard systems.

BlueZone Group congratulates the RAN on its announcement to acquire sea mines. Sea mines are a low-cost and effective defensive weapon that can be deployed to protect Australian ports and shipping lanes. For any country to deploy sea mines there is a need to be able to clear those same sea mines after conflict or change in circumstances. Mines laid during the second world war are still being found and neutralised decades after the conflict ceased. Currently, the RAN is well equipped to locate and neutralise sea mines using its existing fleet of Mine Hunters equipped with the Thales 2093 sonar, BAE’s Tactical Data System, and the SAAB Double Eagle Mine Disposal System.

Since 2000, the Double Eagle Mine Disposal System has been supported by BlueZone Group (BZG, formally ATSA Defence Systems). SAAB helped set up and train BZG staff that developed into a fully Australian sovereign capability allowing BZG to maintain and upgrade the system. The system continues to be upgraded to address obsolescence using the expertise of SAAB Dynamics, SAAB Australia and BZG. The opportunity now exists to continue the success of this partnership with the Navy acquiring the Double Eagle Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS). This latest edition to the Double Eagle family retains the extraordinary power of a remote-controlled vehicle and power down the tether allowing unlimited endurance. This latest vehicle also has the ability to carry three mine deposal charges thereby reducing the difficulty associated with launch and recovery from an uncrewed surface vessel.

The MuMNS is effective against a wide range of conventional underwater ordnance including both buoyant and ground mines. Building on more than twenty years of Double Eagle support, BlueZone Group provides an experienced and established in country support center for the MuMNS thereby reducing the cost of sustainment, and the option to manufacture and support the spiral development of  MuMNS in Australia.