The Belgian Navy’s new mine countermeasures (MCM) programme has taken another step forward with the acquisition of a mobile command centre.
The Belgian Armed Forces took delivery of BNS Oostende, its first vessel under the replacement Mine CounterMeasures (rMCM) programme, in November last year.
The ships are designed for fully autonomous remote MCM operations via the use of surface, aerial and underwater drones, supplied by Exail. They function as mother platforms capable of deploying underwater drones to detect and neutralize mines, surface drones to get them there, and aerial drones to spot floating or anchored mines. All these drones can work autonomously.
Following BNS Oostende’s arrival in Zeebrugge, now a mobile command-and-control (C2) station or “containerized toolbox” has followed suit.
It comprises a shipping container converted into a control station; from it operators can pilot, among other things, the Exail Inspector 125, an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) capable of carrying and deploying several uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs). They can also launch and control uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
Commander of the Mine Countermeasures Module Group (MMG), Lieutenant Commander Bus de Warnaffe explained the flexibility of the system: “Modularity allows us to use the same capability from a ship, whether docked or even in a foreign port.”
Teams from the MMG can be deployed aboard ships, from containers, or from a fixed location at a naval base. Operators are trained to use surface, underwater, and aerial drones. Modular mine clearance divers also have their own section within the MMG.
In the years ahead the Navy plans to establish a permanent remote MCM station in Zeebrugge, with plans in the pipeline to install a large new dedicated communications mast at the port to facilitate it.
- You can read more details on the Belgian Armed Forces website