Click here - to select or create a menu

Naval News

Palfinger
  • News
  • Event News
    • Indo Pacific 2022
    • Sea Air Space 2022
    • DIMDEX 2022
    • WDS 2022
    • DSEI 2021
    • MADEX 2021
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Home» News»ECA Group Passes A New Milestone In The Latvian Navy’s MCM Vessels Modernization
A Latvian Naval Forces minehunter vessel taking part in the NATO Hod ops exercise in Nov. 2019 (Credit: Latvian MoD/Gatis Dieziņš)

ECA Group Passes A New Milestone In The Latvian Navy’s MCM Vessels Modernization

ECA GROUP announces the fulfilment of the first milestone within the modernisation programme of 3 mine countermeasures vessels belonging to the Latvian Navy.

Martin Manaranche 11 Jun 2021

ECA GROUP press release

8 months after winning the contract for the modernisation of the Navy’s MCM capabilities. This first milestone consists of disassembling the legacy equipment of mine countermeasures vessels. Following this successful phase, and the Critical Design Review of ship architecture, teams will begin installing the new, upgraded equipment in October 2021.

ECA GROUP will install and configure its UMIS Unmanned Mine Countermeasures Integrated System on the 3 vessels. The UMIS Toolbox is a comprehensive suite of state-of-the-art technology for unmanned, mine clearance operations, while removing the need for the ship to enter the minefield (stand-off concept). For the Latvian Navy, ECA GROUP will replace the vessels’ conventional mine detection systems based on a hull sonar with a more compact, mobile and evolutive unmanned system UMIS, consisting of AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) A18-M drones fitted with the latest generation ECA GROUP synthetic aperture sonar UMISAS for detection, and several underwater robots, the Seascan MK2 and K-STER C for mines identification and neutralisation. The new Ultra Short Baseline positioning system installed in place of hull sonar enables not only tracking but also acoustic communication, replacing the previous acoustic modem which had to be launched from the deck.

ECA GROUP will modify the vessels to accommodate the new equipment with the support of its subsidiary MAURIC, specialized in naval architecture, and Latvian industrial partners, in order to install these new generation mine countermeasures systems. Several Latvian companies have been consulted for the supply of equipment and coordination of on-site activities and works. Other Latvian companies will also be consulted for procurement of racks, trolleys, launch and recovery systems of drones. MAURIC will make a valuable contribution in ensuring the operability of the equipment installed on board, guaranteeing enhanced performance of the ships following their upgrades.

A18-M AUV fitted with UMISAS 120 system – transmitter and receiver arrays visible on port side

An integral part of the upgrade by ECA GROUP and MAURIC will be the complete renewal of the Combat Room to integrate cabinets and consoles necessary for operating the new navigation systems (WECDIS, USBL positioning system and Inertial Navigation System by iXblue), new Autopilot (by SIREHNA), and ECA GROUP’s UMISOFT software suite for Mission Management, Data Management and Drone Control. A new Iridium and Wi-Fi antenna will be installed on each ship for communicating with the A18-M drone at the surface.

Naval forces around the world are faced with economic restrictions and the need to rationalise resources whilst enhancing their capabilities in order to fulfil their increasingly challenging missions of fighting threats and protecting populations.

By upgrading mine warfare equipment on existing vessels, ECA GROUP brings state of the art capabilities to navies while enabling them to prolong the life of their fleet already in service. (In the case of the Latvian Navy, they had acquired their vessels from the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2006.) The UMIS Toolbox can also be installed on other models of conventional mine countermeasures vessels or on ships that are not used for mine countermeasures. ECA GROUP offers this modernisation solution to all navies that intend to keep and optimise their conventional mine countermeasure vessels or consider the acquisition of pre-owned vessels.

Naval News comments

From the Latvian side, this modernization program is just seen as an interim solution before considering the replacement of the fleet in the 2030s. According to a Navy officer, one of the scenarios would be a joint purchase with the Estonian and Lithuanian navies.

ECA Group Latvian Navy MCM Vessel Mine Warfare 2021-06-11
Tags ECA Group Latvian Navy MCM Vessel Mine Warfare
Facebook Twitter Stumble linkedin Pinterest More

Authors

Posted by : Martin Manaranche
Martin Manaranche is based in Brittany, France. He is currently studying International Relations at Lyon III university. Martin conducted an internship at the French Navy's Ecole Navale in Brest and is therefore particularly fond of naval defense issues.

Related Articles

Poland Orders Three more Kormoran II MCM Vessels

Poland Orders Three more Kormoran II MCM Vessels

Xavier Vavasseur 27 Jun 2022
Poland's Ministry of National Defence (MND) signed a contract on 26 June 2022 for the procurement of three additional Kormoran II mine counter measure (MCM) vessels for the Polish Navy.
ECA Group opens its MCM factory in Belgium

ECA Group opens its MCM factory in Belgium

Naval News Staff 10 Jun 2022
ECA Group today opened its brand new factory in Ostend, Belgium, in the presence of Hilde Crevits, Deputy Prime Minister of the Flemish Government and Admiral Hofman, Chief of Defence.
Turkey’s MILSAR Radar Used to Detect Drifting Mines

Turkey’s MILSAR Radar Used to Detect Drifting Mines

Naval News Staff 30 May 2022
Turkey’s Meteksan announced that its MILSAR synthetic aperture and moving target indicator radar (SAR/MTI) successfully detected mines drifting in the Black Sea.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Legal / Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 Naval News
All Rights Reserved