01 September 2022

by Kate Tringham & Alex Pape

The UK is donating six AUVs to Ukraine to assist with mine clearance. (UK MoD/Crown Copyright)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has introduced plans to donate mine-hunting autonomous underwater autos (AUVs) to Ukraine to assist the nation clear its shoreline of Russian mines.

Forward of supply, Ukrainian personnel are additionally being educated to function the techniques, the MoD mentioned.

Because the United Nations brokered a take care of Russia and Ukraine in July to allow industrial ships to securely export foodstuffs from Ukraine by the Black Sea, a small variety of ships carrying grain have left Ukraine. Nonetheless, the trouble continues to be hampered by sea mines laid by Russian forces alongside Ukraine’s coast.

To help Ukraine’s efforts to conduct mine clearance of its waterways, the MoD mentioned six AUVs will likely be donated for mine detection, together with three that will likely be offered from UK shares and three that will likely be bought from trade.

The MoD has declined to call the kind of AUVs being donated, however mentioned all six will likely be of the identical kind, and able to working successfully in shallow-water environments at depths of as much as 100 m to detect, find, and establish mines.

Coaching of the primary tranche of Ukrainian personnel is beneath manner. The three-week coaching course is being delivered within the UK by the Royal Navy’s (RN’s) Diving and Menace Exploitation Group and the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet. Through the course, Ukrainian personnel are being taught to launch and get better the AUVs at sea and learn how to interpret the incoming knowledge to establish mock mines.

In the meantime, the RN can also be coaching Ukrainian sailors to function Sandown-class minehunter vessels. Ukraine was scheduled to obtain two former RN Sandown-class minehunters, ex-HMS
Ramsey
and ex-HMS
Blyth