Unmanned Systems Used To Detect Mines In U.S. Navy’s Large Scale Exercise

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 16, 2021

The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s Expeditionary Mine Countermeasures, or exMCM, Company 2-3, tied to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 6, EOD Group 2, embarked on amphibious ship, USS Arlington, Aug. 3-9, for the exercise, the branch said in a press release.Unmanned systems were successfully used to detect underwater mines in the U.S. Navy’s Large Scale Exercise 2021, the branch said on Monday.

Sailors from the EODMU-6 deployed two unmanned undersea vehicles from inflatable boats out of Arlington during the exercise to detect the underwater mines and destroy them.

“We embarked on the Arlington to conduct underwater mine countermeasures from the sea,” Senior Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Clifford Sabo, ExMCM Company 203’s leading chief petty officer, said in the press release.

“Over the last week, with help from the Arlington crew, my unmanned systems platoon was able to find and identify two underwater training mine-like contacts on the ocean floor,” Sabo said.

The ExMCM is an adaptable force of vehicles capable of integrating with or separating from each other operate in high-risk environments.

A separate EODMU previously tested UUV for mine countermeasure capabilities in the Arctic Ocean.

The LSE 2021, meant to demonstrate global readiness and concluding Monday, was U.S.-only with plans to include allies and partners in future iterations.

The LSE event across multiple fleets provided high-end training at sea and ashore to show how maritime operations synchronize in support of the joint force, the Navy said.

It was the biggest naval and amphibious large-scale exercise conducted since the Ocean Venture NATO exercises launched in 1981 during the Cold War.

Courtesy: Spacewar