Defence News

Next-gen mine countermeasure capability, with Gavin Henry and Peter Newnham from Thales, and Neil Hodges from BlueZone Group

BlueZone Group’s Neil Hodges, and Thales Australia’s Gavin Henry and Peter Newnham spoke with Defence Connect about our proposal for the Royal Australian Navy’s SEA 1905 Tranche 1 – Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Survey program. BlueZone is pleased to be a partner in the Thales’ bid for SEA 1905 Tranche 1. Thales’ sovereign MCM offering […]

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Timely Reminder of the Sea Mine Threat

Mines are the neglected workhorses of naval strategy BlueZone Group Director, Neil Hodges, has contributed to an article for The Economist that summarises the contemporary sea mine threat. Neil draws on real-world experience from both conflicts in the 1990s Gulf Wars and headed sea trials for the Huon Class Minehunter Coastal program before co-founding BlueZone […]

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Navy Team Surveys Tonga Below the Waterline

BlueZone designed equipment supports fast and easy deployment of military survey equipment   The Australian Defence Force was deployed on Operation Tonga Assist 2022 as part of the Australian Government’s support to the Tongan Government following the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano. A Navy hydrographic team surveyed Tonga’s islands from under the waterline […]

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Military Survey at RIMPAC 2022

REMUS 100 Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles deployed for military survey   Held across training areas in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California from 29 June to 04 August 2022, Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2022 (RIMPAC) is a biennial international military exercise hosted by Commander, U.S Pacific Fleet. Approximately 1,600 Australian Defence Force personnel […]

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Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation

The Future of Mine Disposal with Evergreen Technology Capability The Saab Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS) brings many advantages to the difficult and enduring business of Mine Neutralisation. Lessons learned over five years of development with both the Royal Navy in the UK and the Marine Nationale in France have taken MuMNS from a prototype […]

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BlueZone Awarded Contract for LAND1771 Tranche 1

Geospatial Survey Systems (GSS) for the Land Force to deliver Littoral and Riverine Survey capability and superior situational understanding BlueZone Group has been awarded a two-year contract to deliver and sustain Littoral and Riverine Survey (LRS) Systems, as part of the LAND1771 program, to support the joint land force. LAND1771 Tranche 1 will introduce the […]

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Double Eagle Mine Disposal System – Capability Assured

Capability assurance program will ensure the future of Navy Mine Disposal BlueZone Group is working with Thales Australia and Saab Australia to ensure the capability of the Double Eagle Mine Disposal System, is maintained through to the end-of-life of the Huon Class Minehunter Coastal. The Defence has made a down-select decision to explore a variant […]

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Maritime Robotics for Offshore Wind

Robotics Systems will support inspection and maintenance tasks in harsh conditions New research has found Australia has very high quality and abundant offshore wind resources close to the existing transmission grid. More than 2,000 GW could potentially be installed within 100km of current substations and excluding environmentally restricted and low wind areas – far in […]

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Tip of the Spear

Mine Disposal using the Double Eagle Remotely Operated Vehicle Huon-class minehunter coastal HMAS Gascoyne started its latest deployment with a bang, conducting a live mine disposal activity off the coast of northern NSW. The live firing came just days into a deployment during which the ship will circumnavigate Australia to conduct vital route surveys of […]

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MARTAC Devil Ray T38 Unmanned Surface Vessel

Fastest Autonomous International Run Ever Maritime Tactical Systems, Inc. (MARTAC), an innovator in Maritime Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), launched its Devil Ray T38 USV from Palm Beach, Florida Inlet with the goal of performing a fully autonomous run across the Florida Straits to West Bank, Bahamas in under one hour. At 9:06 am the Devil […]

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