Naval operations Naval operations
business Mining your own
Though the bulk of the fi ghting has been on land, the Black Sea has also played an important role in Ukraine’s ongoing struggle against Russia. That’s clear enough when it comes to naval mines, some 500 of which have been laid off the coast of Ukraine, with ever increasing reports of their use in international waters and confl ict zones around the world. No wonder Western militaries are fi ghting back, with the UK’s DE&S developing a range of autonomous mine-hunting systems. Andrea Valentino talks to Sidharth Kaushal of the Royal United Services Institute to learn more.
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or experienced naval captains, sailing the Black Sea should be straightforward. But since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, even this most popular of shipping lanes can prove treacherous. In October 2023, to give one example, Ali Najafov was damaged by a naval mine while passing the coast of Romania. And while the Turkish tanker reached port more or less unscathed, suffering only minimal damage, not every vessel has been so lucky. Soon after the war began, after all, Helt was also struck by an underwater mine – only this time, the Estonian cargo ship sank, ultimately resulting in the deaths of four innocent crew members.
Add to this tally the damage to military ships – a Romanian minesweeper’s engine was wrecked in September 2022 – and maritime mines are clearly a menace. Nor is this very surprising. Cheap to build and easy to deploy, they’re increasingly popular
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wherever naval warfare seems likely, from the Straits of Hormuz to the South China Sea. Not, of course, that the situation is hopeless. For if the number of naval mine producing nations has risen by 75% since 1988, military researchers are equally busy developing solutions to the naval mine threat. As so often in the military space these days, their efforts can be characterised by a single word: automation. Rather than sending crewed minesweepers to find and neutralise mines, navies are increasingly experimenting with unmanned alternatives. Yet if this approach naturally offers a range of advantages – not least in preventing sailors from needlessly meeting a watery grave – the road from theory to practice is far from straightforward. For one thing, crewless vessels are arguably more vulnerable to attacks from the air or sea. Reliability and cyberattacks can prove challenging too, even as defence ministries can’t hope to deploy without help from the private sector.
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
FOTOGRIN/
Shutterstock.com
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