Frag Out! Magazine

The fair, which were held between 24 and 26 June 2014 for the second time at the AMBEREXPO exhibition center, were meant to signal that the industry is ready to take part in the 'Threat Management at Sea' operational program. Theoretically, it was an impressive venue, with more than 120 exhibitors on the roster, filling two halls and some external area. The 'Maritime Technologies For Defense and Security' 6th Interna- tional NATCOM Conference was even more impressive with over 140 speakers. In reality, though, most space was taken by maritime security services, and interesting new ex- hibits were few and far between. It seems that most hardware purveyors are awaiting concrete steps, like opening tenders, before they risk paying for exhibition space to present their wares. But OK, enough bitching – now let's show what was worth the trip to Gdańsk this year. The fair was a first venue, where the Remontowa Group presented their newly-ordered Project 258 Kormoran II mine hunter. The model displayed at their booth was one of the most popular exhibits of the show, and future suppliers of specialized subsystems showcased their offerings for the new ship. One of the highlights of the recent weeks concerning the program was the choice of the ROVs for the Kormoran II, the Morświn and Orka. Morświn is to replace the Ukwiał, hitherto used by the Polish Navy, while the Orka is a new category in Polish inventory – a ROV sonar-carrier. As a shortcut to avoid long experience-gathering process in this new field, the prototype ship would carry a Swedish Saab Double Eagle-family sonar-ROV, already used by countermine forces of several European countries. The Orka Thales-supplied equipment integrator would be Gdańsk Institute of Technology. Other than Saab and Kongsberg Hugin 1000MR AUV, the Kormoran II would carry the Morświn ROV (still under design) and expendable Głuptak mine-destroyer ROVs, created by the GIT's Maritime Technology Center. Com- peting German SeaFox by Atlas Elektronik, already combat-proven, was also present at the show for comparison. Additional exhibit was a scheme of the future artillery sys- tem for the Kormoran II-Class mine hunters, jointly designed by a consortium of Naval Academy, Military Technology University, Bumar-Elektronika and ZM Tarnów, armed with a 35 mm Oerlikon KDA automatic cannon. The firing data would be fed from the integrated tracking module situated on top of the superstructure, with a dedicated fire control pulpit at the ship's CIC. The Maritime Technology Center also displayed ship's electrodynamical model, meant to test the wiring and controls compensating for mag- netic fields, constant and induced, testing the electromagnetic fields induced by cir- culating currents during the ship's pitch and roll as well as testing the influence of the technologies used on magnetic and electromagnetic properties of the hull. This was a huge exhibit – a 1:14 scale model of the future ship's hull was over 4 meters long and .7 meter wide. The same exhibitor presented the modular acoustic-electromagnetic flail, the Promienica-M, which already absolved its first maritime testing, including on a mine warfare range outside French port of Brest. >>>>>>>>>>>> www.fragoutmag.com

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