Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1115818
SUMMARY The Polish Navy, and in particular its mine countermeasures, can be considered the forerunners of employment of autonomous unmanned vehicles in the ranks of the Pol- ish Armed Forces. The first such vehicles was a pair of Gavia UAVs manufactured by Teledyne Marine, purchased in 2013. These vehicles, much smaller than Hugins, are carried on board of 206FM minehunters. They are also used by teams of mine divers. Despite the small dimensions and the naturally resulting lim- ited autonomy, their application has made it possible to gain valuable experience which bore fruit when the next – much larger – model of an autonomous unmanned vehicle was put into operation. At present, the Polish Navy has only one Hugin 1000MR, but it's almost certain that it will be joined by two additional ones, to be carried on board of two next Kormoran-type minehu- nters ordered by the Ministry of National Defence. The needs of the mine countermeasures forces of the Polish Navy are not limited to three modern mine countermeasures units, though. The 12th Minesweeper Squadron in Świnoujście needs new units as well in order to be able to perform its duties effectively. Whether it will be three additional 258 minehunters or some larg- er universal patrol-minesweeping vessels, planned to be acquired until recently as part of the "Czapla" program, remains an open question. 1000MR knots knots 800 kg in water, 1200 kg in air hours at 4 knots, 30 hours at 20 knots Kongsberg Maritime ACL acoustic uplink Kongsberg Maritime ADL downlink b/s radio link 54 MB/s link b/s satellite link MORŚWIN 500 kg (depending on the carried payloads, it may reachs) 200–400 m (depending on the force of currents and the operating depth) HISAS 2032 60–120 kHz x 18 cm 11 cm operation (combat version) composed of DP-4 explosive material NAVY