A collaboration between three European companies has conducted to a new solution for maritime operations related to security & defense.
Sea tests of the new integral platform developed by the Spanish company UTEK was performed last week. The new solution is based in an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) and was named “KALUGA DS”. The system includes the Remote Weapon Station LIONFISH ULTRA LIGHT 12,7 mm from LEONARDO, produced by his Spanish Subsidiary LEONARDO HISPANIA for national customers and the advanced surveillance equipment MILT-SUR-RTM from the Greek company MILTECH.
The boat is a Narwhal 670 RHIB powered by a 150HP Mercury Verado outboard engine. Onboard unmanned capabilities were provided by UTEK as well as the portable Ground Control Station which can be quickly deployed on ground or on a mother ship.
The trial was performed last week at Spanish Navy premises located in Argameca Naval Station (Murcia) with a valuable collaboration of this unit in terms of personnel and support equipment and counted also with the collaboration of Spanish Ministry of Defense. A validation of the new Mission Planner and full autonomous navigation developed by UTEK was checked with excellent results.
LEONARDO LIONFISH ULTRA LIGHT 12.7 mm is a reduced weight weapon system that can detect targets above 7 Km thanks to an optronics system with day/night camera and a laser range finder that allows an effective shooting distance up to 2,000 meters. LIONFISH ULTRA LIGHT provides support to all type of maritime operations thanks to an ammunition capability of 250 rounds.
MILT-SUR-RTM is an IP based, ONVIF compatible family of E/O Surveillance Systems, specially designed for marine harsh environments and thus can be installed on vessels (manned or unmanned) providing numerous all-in-one capabilities. The several variants include uncooled & cooled systems. The advanced systems include Gyro-stabilized Pan-Tilt and optional LRF. The systems are modular and fully customizable, according to user requirements.
The integration of advanced performances equipment increases USV capabilities providing a great potential for security & defense maritime operations related to protection of maritime assets (facilities/ships) or for coverage of the fleet when defensive/offensive capabilities are required. UTEK is a Spanish company specialized in the development of high reliability and advanced performances unmanned systems which got a prominent position in the international scene with agreements and commercial presence in several countries all around the World.
MILTECH’s representative highlighted the importance of unmanned vessels in defense maritime scenarios. Thus, by incorporating remotely controlled imaging technologies (thermal & optical), USV’s capabilities are expanded exponentially. MILTECH HELLAS S.A. is one of the leading Hellenic industries in the defense sector specializing in the design and manufacture of high quality electronic & electro-optical imaging products for defense applications. Miltech’s Thermal Imaging products range covers, among others, land or air-based applications and maritime surveillance.
La semana pasada se realizaron los primeros ensayos de navegación y operación de la nueva plataforma integral para seguridad y defensa desarrollada por UTEK denominada “KALUGA DS” (Defense & Security)”. La solución está basada en la plataforma USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) KALUGA, que integra el sistema de armas LIONFISH ULTRA LIGHT 12,7 mm de LEONARDO producido en España por su filial LEONARDO HISPANIA para cualquier cliente nacional, además del equipo de vigilancia avanzado MLT-SUR-RTM de la empresa griega MILTECH.
Se trata de una embarcación neumática semirrígida Narwhal 670 propulsada por un motor fueraborda Mercury Verado de 175 CV que ha sido dotada de las capacidades no tripuladas por UTEK mediante un conjunto de sistemas embarcados además de la estación de control que es de tipo portable para facilitar su despliegue en cualquier ubicación, ya sea en tierra o en un barco de apoyo.
El ensayo ha sido posible gracias al apoyo del Ministerio de Defensa y la Armada y se llevó a cabo en aguas bajo la jurisdicción de la Estación Naval de la Algameca (Cartagena) contando en todo momento con el apoyo del personal de dicha unidad.
La prueba se llevó a cabo sin patrón a bordo, pero siempre con la supervisión y control del operador de la estación de control, validando la funcionalidad de navegación totalmente autónoma recientemente desarrollada por UTEK.
Perfectamente integrada en la plataforma y con un peso reducido, el sistema de arma LIONFISH ULTRA LIGHT 12,7 mm, es la más reciente creación dentro de la familia de sistemas navales de Leonardo. Es capaz de detectar objetivos a más de 7 kilómetros gracias a su sistema optrónico dotado de cámara diurna, nocturna y telémetro láser que proporciona un alcance eficaz de disparo de hasta 2.000 metros. Con una capacidad de munición de hasta 250 proyectiles, permite dar respuesta a todo tipo de operaciones. Leonardo Hispania es una empresa cuya sede productiva se encuentra ubicada en la localidad valenciana de Loriguilla y que basa su producción en la red industrial nacional.
La integración de equipos de altas prestaciones como los usados en esta demostración, aumentan las capacidades de los USV permitiendo realizar un gran abanico de operaciones en el campo de la seguridad y defensa, en particular las relacionadas con la protección de instalaciones y buques o para proporcionar cobertura al despliegue de efectivos en zonas de conflicto.