The Mine Countermeasure Equipment Strengthened by the US Navy is

[Monthly Defense Times Editor-in-Chief An Seung-beom] U.S. Navy Retires Mine Countermeasure Ships, Strengthens Introduction of Airborne Mine Countermeasure Equipment

On August 19, the U.S. Navy retired three Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships that were stationed at the San Diego naval base all at once.

The three mine countermeasure ships were the MCM-8 Scout, MCM-4 Champion, and MCM-12 Adroit. With this move, the U.S. Navy is effectively transitioning its mine countermeasure forces to airborne mine countermeasure helicopter units operated by MH-60S Seahawk helicopters, except for the Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships forward-deployed at the Sasebo naval base of the U.S. Navy in Japan.

Meanwhile, as a follow-up measure, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a contract worth approximately 130 billion KRW for the manufacture and supply of Archerfish mine neutralizers for the U.S. Navy. This contract continues the procurement of the airborne mine countermeasure equipment Archerfish, which has been ordered since 2003, and the U.S. Navy plans to acquire it over the next seven years.

The Archerfish is a remotely operated underwater mine neutralizer and is launched and operated from the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), MH-60S Seahawk helicopters, and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

The Archerfish system transmits real-time high-resolution low-light video and high-frequency sonar images of targets of interest from onboard sensors via a fiber-optic data link. The system shortens the time required to identify and neutralize targets, enabling rapid completion of mine clearance missions.

The Archerfish system is one of the airborne mine neutralization systems (AN/ASQ-235) deployed from the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships and is intensively used by the U.S. Navy’s MH-60S Seahawk helicopter squadrons.

In this way, the U.S. Navy is continuously introducing the Archerfish system to enhance its airborne mine clearance capabilities.

The Archerfish system, developed by the British company BAE Systems, can be recovered and reused through fusing, and with the currently developing automated target recognition function, it will be capable of simultaneous multi-target operations, allowing the neutralization of large quantities of mines.

Currently, the Republic of Korea Navy operates the Yangyang-class mine countermeasure ships as its main force and is planning to introduce airborne mine countermeasure capabilities in line with the future acquisition of a Korean-type aircraft carrier.

The planned number of units to be introduced is eight. The Navy is at a crossroads deciding whether to adopt a system combined with the MH-60S Seahawk helicopter like the U.S. Navy or to domestically develop an airborne mine countermeasure helicopter based on the indigenous MUH-1 Marion amphibious assault helicopter.

Since airborne mine countermeasure equipment like Archerfish is already in production, the plan to introduce airborne mine countermeasure helicopter forces can proceed through acquisition approval procedures. However, it is known that careful consideration is being given to the acquisition method before proceeding.

If the Sikorsky MH-60R, one of the candidate models in the second phase of the maritime operation helicopter project scheduled for the end of 2020, is selected, it will boost direct procurement of the MH-60S from the U.S. Navy, which is a sibling model. If the British AW-159 is chosen, the domestically developed MUH-1 mine countermeasure helicopter is expected to have an advantage. Of course, there remains the process of developing integration with airborne equipment like the Archerfish.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.