The Ministry of Defence of Poland has procured three additional Teledyne Marine Gavia Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) through Remontowa Shipbuilding for the next batch of Kormoran II Class Mine Countermeasure Vessels (MCMVs).
The anticipated delivery of three systems will be added to the current Gavia AUV fleet, which has been successfully operated by the Polish Navy for Naval Mine Countermeasures (NMCM) since 2015.
To complement the Gavia AUVs previously procured, the acquisition will include all required topside equipment, as well as the AUV operation and maintenance training.
In 2014, Teledyne Gavia completed a competitive tender process for the delivery of the first MCM AUVs for the Polish Navy, winning the contract on the basis of best value with conformance to the required functional and technical requirements. Based on the Polish Navy’s experience, the Gavia AUV has been selected once again as the Navy expands its fleet of MCMVs.
The Gavia vehicles will mirror the AUVs previously delivered, equipped with the latest EdgeTech 2205 side scan sonars and Teledyne Reson BlueView MB2250 Microbathymetry Module, providing simultaneous dual frequency 600 /1600 kHz side scan sonar with gapfill.
Inertial navigation will be provided by the iXblue PHINS C5 inertial navigation system, aided by a 600kHz Teledyne RDI Pathfinder DVL. To enhance interoperability with other systems, the AUVs will be equipped with Kongsberg Maritime C-Node modems for USBL tracking from the Kormoran II class MCMVs.
With the imaging and navigation sensors listed above, Teledyne believes the AUV will be able to gather high resolution, accurately navigated, sonar images while remaining submerged for several hours of continuous operation at survey speeds up to five knots.
Each Gavia AUV will be delivered with several field-replaceable battery modules from Teledyne Energy Systems. The combination of sensors ensures that the Gavia AUV can carry out successful MCM missions, as well as search and salvage operations, in continental-shelf waters and beyond. Future addition of a Reson T20 Multibeam Echosounder will provide expanded capability for pipeline tracking and inspection of critical infrastructure.
Gavia AUVs in Poland continue to be supported locally through Enamor Ltd, Teledyne Gavia’s official representative in Poland. Enamor is a research and production company focused on new technology and active in many projects in Poland in the fields of navigation, communication, hydrography and automation.
“Over the years, Teledyne Gavia and Enamor have formed a strong relationship based on the success of the Gavia AUV in Poland, as well as the local support that has been provided by Enamor,” said Maciej Rek, CEO.
“We are very excited to see the continued success of the Polish Navy with the use of the Gavia AUV,” said Valentin Hanns, Director of Sales – EMEA at Teledyne Marine. “The Gavia AUV operational flexibility, the ease of through-life support, and modular upgrade paths have really contributed to the suitability of this AUV for addressing a variety of critical defense challenges.”
The Gavia AUV has a low-logistics, fully modular design that facilitates rapid transport and maintenance while increasing operational availability and reliability. Each Gavia AUV can also be equipped with a variety of additional sensor modules at the time of initial purchase or at a later date.
Teledyne believes this versatility creates an asset which can be configured for MCM, search and salvage or hydrography missions, without needing to be dedicated to just one task. In the future, the AUVs delivered in Poland can be equipped with modules for multi-beam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling, or submarine emulator sonar training targets, without returning any of the equipment back to the manufacturer.
Teledyne believes the expansion in Poland is a significant milestone for the Gavia AUV user community, as it demonstrates the confidence of Gavia AUVs for MCM by the Armed Forces of Poland.