By Peter Murray
Christopher Del Mastro, head of anti submarine warfare mobil targets
stands next to an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) in a lab at the
Naval Undersea War Center in Middletown, RI. (Photo: AP/Stephan Savoia)
What to do when international talks begin falling apart? Send a fleet
of unmanned submersibles in preparation for a waterway showdown. As US
talks with Iran over their nuclear program began to sour and the
possibility of sanctions against the country rose, Iran responded by
threatening to cut off the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway and the
only way into and out of the petroleum-rich Persian Gulf. The US
responded in turn, the LA Times reports, by sending dozens of SeaFox unmanned submersibles to the region to seek out and destroy mines in the strait.
Each SeaFox
is outfitted with an underwater television camera, homing sonar, an
explosive charge, and is controlled through an optic fiber tether. None
of the submersibles, however, return from a successful mission as they
end, not only with the destruction of the mine, but the craft itself,
each costing about $100,000. The SeaFox can sniff out both submerged and
surface mines.
The SeaFox is the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) made by the German company Atlas Elektronik.
It measures about 4 feet long and weighs just under 100 pounds. Their
small size enables them to be deployed from helicopters, small rubber
boats, or dropped from minesweeping ships. Its maximum operational depth
is about 300 meters and it can run for around 100 minutes without
having to return and recharge.
