Royal Navy: Experiment of Portsmouth ships being used as autonomous craft launchpad on Nato mission a success

Seven P2000 patrol vessels of the Coastal Forces Squadron were deployed on Baltops 24 - Nato’s annual exercise in the Baltic. A total of 50 ships, dozens of aircraft and 9,000 personnel from 20 nations joined forces during the operation.

HMS Puncher and HMS Pursuer welcomed aboard experts from Zulu Squadron of the Mine and Threat Exploitation Group and their autonomous craft. The squadron is responsible for for keeping the waterways clear and safe on the Clyde in Scotland, where the UK’s nuclear submarines operate from their base at Faslane.

NOW READ: HMS Prince of Wales hosts charity gala

They deployed a team of five to Baltops as a trial to see if they could send expeditionary mine hunting kit on overseas operations, testing if this could be done anywhere in the world. An IVER 3 Autonomous Vehicle was deployed - scanning the seabed with its sonar to identify potential mines.

A Video Ray Defender remotely operated vehicle then sends a live stream back to the operator to safely find potential incendiary devices. Zulu Squadron surveyed 620,000 square metres of an historic minefield in two days in the Gulf of Riga. Many of the Baltic’s waterways were heavily mined in both World Wars.

Last year, it was reported that 80,000 mines and other unexploded remnants lurk on the seabed. Lieutenant Malcolm Andrews, Zulu’s Operations Officer, said: “I’m especially pleased with how the team have remained adaptable to challenges posed by the equipment and the weather, working long days and even encountering a bear while we were driving through the Latvian countryside.

“I hope that the success we have had on Baltops 24 has proved the utility of the innovative equipment and sees the navy expand its expeditionary mine hunting capability into the future. Although we’ve not identified any mines, we have been able to designate large areas of seabed clear of any historic ordnance.”

SEE ALSO: “Defect” found on HMS Spey during Japan deployment

HMS Archer, HMS Ranger and HMS Example were involved in exercises in an island chain of the Stockholm archipelago - where Royal Marines have been operating. It consists of 30,000 islands, rocks and skerries 50 miles from Sweden’s capital. The P2000s were used as an “enemy” for larger Dutch and Swedish navies, with the British ships harassing their larger counterparts.

Lieutenant Jack Patterson, Commanding Officer of HMS Archer said: “We are very happy with what we have achieved on Baltops this year, and it has sparked plenty of ideas for future iterations and how we continue to develop the utility and operational output of the P2000 as a platform. Our units continue to prove their versatility in a range of environments.”

Commander Richard Skelton Royal Navy, Commander Coastal Forces Squadron, added: “ It is a great pleasure to be invited to take part in Baltops as it provides an excellent opportunity to share ideas and develop new ways of working with NATO allies. This year has had the added bonus of successfully deploying a minehunting capability from the platform and being able to clear a significant area of historic ordnance.”