Indian Navy buys Australian Minesweeping System
The Australian Minesweeping System (AMAS), developed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), has scored another export success with India being the latest to acquire the innovative system that protects ships from underwater mines. The sale to India was the largest single overseas order for this technology since it was first exported in 1992.
Thales Australia has a worldwide license to market the system which is now in service with the navies of Australia, USA, Denmark, Poland, Japan, UAE, Indonesia and Thailand.
The DSTO-designed system is the world’s first operational sweep to emulate the magnetic signals of ships, causing sea mines to detonate prematurely and safely out of range of target vessels. The technology has been further improved in collaboration with Thales Australia.
The Australian Minesweeping System was used during the 2003 Gulf War when it was used by the Royal Navy to clear smart mines from the port of Umm Qasr in order to deliver humanitarian aid to the Iraqi .
It requires no form of power from the towing platform and can be towed by a variety of platforms for autonomous and remote control minesweeping operations. AMAS is a systems approach to minesweeping, comprising a magnetic, acoustic, and electric multi influence sweep; a sweep tracker monitor system; mission planning support system software; an ECDIS based minesweeping navigation and control system; a remote controlled minesweeping system and a range of integrated logistic support products and services including a shorting band kit and deployment containers. The sweep can be deployed from MCMVs, naval support craft, remote controlled drones and Craft of Opportunity such as fishing vessels.
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