UK military ups investments in undersea surveillance

LONDON — Britain plans to boost its undersea capabilities in the face of growing threats from Russia, with the Ministry of Defence preparing to release tender documents in the next few weeks aimed at purchasing a deep-water remotely operated vehicle.

The Defence Equipment and Support arm of the MoD is currently in the process acquiring the remotely operating vehicle in a program likely to cost the British £20 million, or $24 million.

The commercial off-the-shelf vehicle, being acquired via a competitive tender, will give the British the ability to manipulate objects and produce high resolution imagery down to a depth of 6,000 meters .

The requirement to provide Britain with a deep-water salvage capability was included in a recently published update of the departments forward equipment pipeline of work.

An MoD spokesperson confirmed the procurement effort is underway.

“We are seeking to procure a remotely operated vehicle system, which will provide a deep-water salvage capability in support of United Kingdom maritime operations,” they said.

News the British are strengthening their military underwater capabilities comes just days after Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the MoD was speeding up a multirole ocean surveillance vessel program using some of the cash from scrapping a controversial plan to build a £250 million ($297 million) super yacht to promote British exports around the globe.

Wallace said instead the MoD would be speeding up the introduction of a specialist multi-role ocean surveillance ship being acquired to protect underwater pipelines and cables from potential sabotage by Russia.

The first ocean surveillance vessel, thought to be a converted merchant ship, should be handed over to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the support arm of the Royal Navy, next year, months ahead of the original plan.

A second ship , likely built locally, is also now part of the British plan to protect undersea infrastructure from possible attack.

Originally the government had planned just one vessel when the requirement was included in the 2021 integrated defense and security review – which is itself subject to review expected to be published by January.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Nov. 7 Wallace told lawmakers he was prioritizing the procurement of the surveillance ship and had terminated the competition to build the yacht, which the MoD was to fund.

“In the face of the Russian illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s reckless disregard of international arrangements designed to keep world order, it is right that we prioritize delivering capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure,” he told members of Parliament.

The Russians are thought to be behind the late September sabotage of two Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea bringing natural gas from Russia to western Europe .

It’s not clear at this point whether the deep-sea unmanned vehicle will be part of the surveillance vessel capability.

The Royal Navy has previously said the ship will be fitted with advanced sensors and a number of remotely operated and autonomous undersea drones.

The envisioned vehicle is likely to be able to interface onto a number of platforms both commercial and government-owned.

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

伦敦——面对来自俄罗斯日益增长的威胁，英国计划提升其水下作战能力。英国国防部准备在未来几周内发布招标文件，旨在采购深水遥控潜水器。

英国国防部国防装备与保障部门目前正在采购遥控驾驶车辆，该项目预计将花费英国 2000 万英镑，即 2400 万美元。

英国通过公开招标采购的商用现成潜水器，将使英国能够操控物体并生成深度达 6000 米的高分辨率图像。

为英国提供深水打捞能力的要求已纳入该部门最近发布的前沿装备工作计划更新中。

英国国防部发言人证实，采购工作正在进行中。

他们表示：“我们正在寻求采购一套遥控潜水器系统，该系统将提供深水打捞能力，以支持英国的海上作业。”

就在几天前，英国国防大臣本·华莱士宣布，国防部正在加快一项多用途海洋监视船计划，该计划将利用取消一项备受争议的建造价值 2.5 亿英镑（2.97 亿美元）的超级游艇以促进英国在全球出口的计划所节省的部分资金。随后，有消息称英国正在加强其水下军事能力。

华莱士表示，国防部将加快引进一艘专门用于保护水下管道和电缆免受俄罗斯潜在破坏的多功能海洋监视船。

第一艘海洋监视船据信是由一​​艘商船改装而成，将于明年交付给皇家海军的支援部队——皇家舰队辅助队，比原计划提前数月。

第二艘船（很可能是当地建造的）现在也是英国保护海底基础设施免受可能攻击计划的一部分。

最初，政府只计划建造一艘舰艇，该需求被纳入 2021 年综合国防和安全审查——该审查本身也正在接受审查，预计将于 1 月份公布。

11 月 7 日，华莱士在下议院发表讲话，告诉议员们，他优先考虑采购这艘监视船，并终止了建造游艇的竞争，而这艘游艇原本将由国防部出资建造。

“面对俄罗斯非法且无端入侵乌克兰，以及普京肆意无视旨在维护世界秩序的国际安排，我们理应优先发展保障国家基础设施的能力，”他告诉议员们。

人们认为俄罗斯是9月下旬破坏波罗的海两条北溪天然气管道的幕后黑手，这两条管道将俄罗斯的天然气输送到西欧。

目前尚不清楚深海无人航行器是否会成为监视船能力的一部分。

英国皇家海军此前曾表示，该舰将配备先进的传感器和多艘远程操控的自主水下无人机。

设想中的车辆很可能能够与多个商业和政府拥有的平台进行对接。

Andrew Chuter 是《防务新闻》的英国记者。