February 27, 2019

USS Santa Fe SSN exercises with 4 Aussie Collins class submarines

USS Santa Fe following the 4 Collins class subs.
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The US Government Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (dvids) reported February 26, 2019 that https://www.dvidshub.net/news/311919/uss-santa-fe-arrives-stirling-australia  

“The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Santa Fe (SSN 763) [above] arrived at HMAS Stirling, Australia for a scheduled port visit this week”

“Santa Fe’s port visit followed the completion of a joint training exercise with four Royal Australian Navy Collins-class submarines, HMAS Collins, HMAS Farncomb, HMAS Dechaineux and HMAS Sheean [see photo above], in waters around Australia. 

The exercise, which was designed to enhance anti-submarine warfare abilities, gave the crews of both navies the opportunity to employ and experiment with real world tactics. Pulling into port, however, gave the crews the opportunity to meet each other face-to-face and forge greater ties.”


PETE COMMENT

HMAS Stirling is an Australian naval base, known as Fleet Base West, at which all 6 of Australia’s Collins class submarines are home based. HMAS Stirling is situated at Rockingham, near Fremantle, near Perth, Western Australia. 

USS Santa Fe (SSN 763) is home ported at Pearl Harbour.

It is heartening that 4 of the 6 Collins class submarines (given past crew shortages and past maintenance issues) were available for the exercise with USS Santa Fe.

Pete

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Pete,

New equipment for Swedish submarines (in Swedish) there is a video showing the SubROV

/Kjell

Pete said...

Thanks /Kjell

I see that Sweden’s Defence MateriEl Administration (FMV) is showcasing the SubROV standard sized (usefully) torpedo tube deployed UUV in the article below, now translated into English http://www.fmv.se/Templates/FMV/Pages/NewsPage.aspx?id=4977&epslanguage=sv

“The submarine's extended arm”

The crews on the Gotland and Södermanland submarines have been given a tool that they can use to carry out various tasks outside the submarine.

SubROV is an underwater vessel built as a working vessel. It has a durable plastic shell and has a modular and open design both mechanically, electrically and software-wise. This allows it to carry loads such as manipulator arms, communication buoys, sensors and various types of sonars.

Recently, FMV's product manager for underwater weapons and torpedo systems, Anders Svensson, handed over the SubROV system to the Swedish Armed Forces.

- By sending out the remote-controlled subroV vessel from one of the submarine's torpedo tubes, the crew can carry out various types of missions outside the submarine. One can, among other things, inspect and one can salvage other smaller vessels and recapture them to the submarine while you are hidden under the surface.

Handled like a torpedo: The system has its own energy system and consists of two parts, a wet part which is installed in the torpedo tube, and a dry control unit that remains inside the submarine.

- The great advantage of the system is that it is designed to be handled in the same way as a heavy torpedo aboard the submarine, which means that no modification of the existing systems on the submarine is required, says Anders Svensson.

- What the crew does is that they send out the vessel via the tube and then they communicate with it via a fiber optic cable. This provides long reach and low resistance in the water." ENDS

PETE COMMENT

Sweden has not made the mistake of the US (and some other countries) of developing a UUV (for submarine) that is larger than a 533mm diamenter torpedo tube.