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5th Fleet Mine Hunters Test Unmanned Vehicles in Arabian Gulf

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS031124-09

Release Date: 11/24/2003 2:10:00 PM

By Lt.(j.g.) Joshua A. Frey, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Mine countermeasure ships from the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet completed the Chief of Naval Operations-directed, mine warfare exercise Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring (MIREM) 27 in the Arabian Gulf in November, verifying mine warfare tactics and equipment proficiency.

What made MIREM 27 different this year was its use of new Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and a new Expendable Mine Neutralization System (EMNS).

"We traditionally utilize this exercise to try proto-types, such as the UUVs," said Cmdr. Ian Hall, commander of Mine Countermeasure Division (MCMDIV) 31. "We wanted to test the ability to clear mine fields faster by using ship and UUV sonars at the same time."

During the exercise, mine countermeasure ships USS Cardinal (MHC 60) and USS Raven (MHC 61) matched up new UUV systems against the existing sonars installed aboard mine countermeasure ships in an equipment comparison.

"It is another method for getting sonar back, as opposed to the ship going into an area which may be a potential mine field," said Chief Mineman (SW) Steve Brashier, the command chief aboard Cardinal.

"With remote vehicles, the mine hunting process is much quicker because we can survey two fields at one time," said Brashier. "They offer more flexibility to clear mines."

Brashier and his fellow shipmates from Cardinal and the other mine countermeasure ships from MCMDIV 31 used sonar at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). During "brown water ops" into the Khor Abd Allah waterway into Iraq, coalition Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) divers "could not see their hand in front of their face, the water was so murky," said Brashier. Thus, the use of sonar, UUVs and even dolphins to identify mines were capabilities that made the mission a success.

British minesweeping ships used an EMNS during OIF, and as a result of its success rate, the system was re-tested by the U.S. Navy during MIREM 27. UUVs were also used by Naval Special Clearance Team (NSCT) 1 during OIF, the team that also employed dolphin marine mammal systems Mark 7 and 8 to assist in mine detection.

Unlike the existing mine neutralization vehicles, the new EMNS comes with an expendable bomb built into the vehicle to prosecute mines. Rather than building an ordnance package each time to prosecute a mine, EMNS "crashes into the mine, blows it up, and you grab another EMNS vehicle and plug it in," said Brashier.

Human EOD divers would normally be tasked to neutralize floating mines. With a system such as the EMNS, a remote unmanned ordnance package can prosecute the floating mine, taking the risk to divers out of the equation. Similar to gun camera footage from a strike fighter jet's bombs hitting their target, EMNS comes with cameras built into the ordnance package. Sailors operating EMNS aboard ship can actually watch their bombs destroy the targets.

"I want any piece of technology to find mines without endangering the lives of my Sailors," said Hall. "We want to remove the Sailor from the minefield and use machines to render them safe for ships to sail out of harm's way."