Undersea Robotic Power: Australia Acquires an Undersea Support Vessel from Norway
As if wanting to compete with China's hegemony in the Indo-Pacific, Australia is becoming increasingly firm in building underwater power.
In addition to the nuclear-powered submarine project involving the AUKUS defense pact, the Kangaroo Country is also actively promoting the development of large unmanned submarines.
Which are claimed to be able to support underwater and defense research missions.
And still related to the underwater power domain, Australia has acquired a large-tonnage underwater Support Vessel.
The Australian Department of Defense confirmed the acquisition of the Undersea Support Vessel in April.
However, the ship purchased for the Australian Navy was not new but was bought used from Norway.
Following a selection process led by an independent broker, the Norwegian-flagged MV Normand Jarl has been purchased for $110 million and is currently undergoing inspection and certification activities in Singapore before sailing to Australia under the Australian flag later this year.
After being purchased by Australia, the ship will be renamed Australian Defense Vessel (ADV) Guidance.
Deputy Secretary for Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Tony Dalton said in an Australian Department of Defense release that the acquisition of the Undersea Support Vessel will be used to further advance various trials and activities that utilize new technologies in the underwater domain.
ADV Guidance's primary role is to support the piloting of underwater surveillance systems, including the ability to deploy underwater manned and unmanned vehicles as well as robotic and autonomous systems.
The ADV Guidance has a hull length of 107 meters, a width of 22 meters, and a displacement of 7,400 tons.
By transitioning from civilian to military vessels, ADV Guidance will be able to sustain a wide range of defense activities due to its modular mission system, allowing defense and loading specialist teams to meet various system trial requirements.
Australia's move to procure commercial vessels to "conduct seabed warfare" follows a similar move taken by the UK.
An underwater support vessel was acquired to support autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operations in deep waters.
In addition, the multi-role ocean surveillance ship (MROSS) program is seeking platforms and developing specific capabilities to address seabed security challenges such as submarine cable and pipeline risks.
In both cases, commercial vessels will be used, but for different tasks.
"ADV Guidance will play a critical role in developing and testing robotic and autonomous underwater systems, ensuring defense elements can compete and succeed in a variety of complex underwater environments," said Dalton.
On the oedigital.com site, it is stated that the specifications for MV Normand Jarl will change their name to ADV Guidance.
It is stated that this ship was built by the Kleven Verft shipyard in 2013 in Norway.
MV Normand Jarl is equipped with a cargo deck area of 1170 m2 and can accommodate 116 crew members.
The ship that can explore the deep sea is equipped with 1x SWL 250 mt 12m main crane (single fall) and a helideck with a diameter of 22 meters, which can accommodate helicopters weighing 12 tons.
