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UUV Use in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom Recounted

NAVSEA News Wire

Release Date: 8/22/2003

By Chief Journalist (SW) Douglas H. Stutz

KEYPORT, Wash. -- Snaking north up the Tigris-Euphrates River delta from Iraqi's Al Faw Peninsula is the port of Umm Qasr. Unbeknownst to the Iraqi military, understood by a small number of Coalition forces, and undertaken by a hardy few, Navy service members were about to utilize unmanned underwater vehicles to make their job easier, and prepare an opening into Iraq from the open ocean. The Navy's Special Clearance Team (NSCT) One, along with Royal Navy and Australian forces, on March 24, handled the task of exploratory mine hunting to render the port safe for incoming humanitarian aid shipments. NSCT One accomplished its mission with the aid of Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUV). They also conducted additional UUV operations further up the river at Az Zubayr and Karbala, Iraq.

Various aspects of the missions were discussed and explained by Cmdr. Tony Rodgers, NSCT One commanding officer, at the Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle Festival (AUV Fest) 2003, held at Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport, Wash. on August 11-22, 2003.

The AUV Fest showcased the upcoming new generation of innovations concerning UUV, AUV, and mechanical high-tech marvels from torpedo-shaped drones to miniature multi-purpose robots.

"The UUVs are great tools for application of what we had to do regarding mine detection and clearance," said Rodgers. "We certainly didn't expect anyone to shoot at us, but environmentally, what we had to do was a lot more difficult than initially anticipated."

NSCT One's primary mission is to conduct low-visibility underwater mine and obstacle reconnaissance and clearance operations from over the horizon to the seaward edge of the surf zone. The port of Umm Qasr and associated waterways presented the team with a lot of sediment to deal with, accumulated debris, and an above average collection of flotsam and jetsam that had to be taken into account and thoroughly searched.

"We used the Remote Environmental Measurement Units Support (REMUS) UUV," explained Rodgers. The REMUS UUV is a two man portable unit that weighs approximately 80 pounds and is specifically designed to classify and map ocean bottoms. "Although the REMUS UUV does not get the press like the dolphins do, we did use it to help hunt out mines. Our job was to determine the presence or absence of mines, as well as be prepared for similar short notice tasking elsewhere with our Coalition partners."

According to Rodgers, his team went into action by initially checking the bottom for mines. Then the divers conducted tactile searches of the quay wall out into the surrounding water to determine any possible mine burial zones. "Imagine if a truck pulled up to the edge, and then a load of mines was tossed into the water. Our job is to find and locate exactly where those mines would go under such a scenario," described Rodgers.

One of the main challenges in their exploratory mine hunting operation was dealing with tidal extremes of up to 15 feet between high and low tides and the pull of currents up to five knots. There were also sandstorms that made visibility murky on land, as well as deposited silt and sediment along the wharfs, piers and moorings of the old port city.

In all, NSCT One conducted ten missions in the waters off Umm Qasr, covering a total of 2.5 million square meters. It discovered and marked 97 man-made objects and shapes, each of which had to be checked out, even if they turned out to be rusty anchors or old truck tires.

In all three locations, a useful by product of their underwater work was the data they collected was shared with the Port and Maritime Registry, which will help in much needed pending dredging operations. "We even supplied the identification of some unknown wrecks by using the UUVs," Rodgers noted.

NSCT One's mission proved that by using UUVs in actual field work in difficult wartime conditions, they were able to achieve its military objective, and also provide valuable environmental and oceanographic data that will be extremely important in the days to come.