![]() The push to develop the new line of ships has been a financial drain on the minesweeping budget and the maintenance of the existing fleet.Ĭongress, concerned about resources being diverted, has required the Navy not to decommission the ships or reduce how many sailors are assigned to them until there's a replacement that would “meet or exceed” their capabilities. ![]() The Navy's plan to replace the minesweepers with a new class of vessels, known as Littoral Combat Ships, has been repeatedly delayed by cost overruns and technical deficiencies. Over a three-year period, they had crashed at a higher rate than any other military aircraft, including a 2014 crash that killed three service members. In a lengthy examination in The Virginian-Pilot, the Sea Dragons were found to have been used long after they were supposed to be retired. Three years later, the Navy's Sea Dragon helicopters, which stream cables that dislodge mines moored to the ocean floor, came under damning scrutiny. ambassador was forced to apologize for the damage to the World Heritage site. No one was injured, but the $212 million ship had to be decommissioned, and the U.S. In 2013, the USS Guardian, a minesweeper, accidentally ran into a sensitive coral reef in the Philippines. The effort didn't resolve some of the unit's issues, however. And he ramped up mine-clearing exercises with other navies, including those of the British and Gulf states. Greenert said he responded by putting more of an emphasis on the use of newly developed unmanned vehicles that could be dispatched to find and detonate mines. Jonathan Greenert, told ProPublica that when he took command in 2011, he was immediately notified of the deteriorating mine warfare units in the Persian Gulf by the combatant commander in the Middle East at the time, Gen. We are investing millions in innovative technology now, to support our military of the future.The Navy's former top officer, Adm. “Easily transported by road, sea and air, the high-tech design means a small team could put the system to use within hours of it arriving in theatre. “This autonomous minesweeper takes us a step closer to taking our crews out of danger and allowing us to safely clear sea lanes of explosives, whether that’s supporting trade in global waters and around the British coastline, or protecting our ships and shores,” said defence minister Guto Bebb. Over the past four months, the system has been tested against a variety of performance requirements, including how well it cleared mines and whether it could successfully avoid obstacles. It is designed to be deployed remotely from a land- or ship-based control system. ![]() ![]() ![]() The sweeper system features a ‘sense and avoid’ capability, and could work with other similar autonomous systems to make waterways safer. The autonomous system was designed by Atlas Elektronik UK under a £13m Ministry of Defence contract, and has the ability to defeat digital sea mines, which can detect and target military ships passing overhead.
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