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Australia has laid sea mines for the first time in nearly 50 years as part of mine warfare and clearance diving activity Exercise Dugong.
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The exercise saw personnel from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States test their explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) capabilities against realistic mine threats.
The mines were laid near one of NSW’s largest fishing ports, Eden.
During the training, Defence reported that sensor readings were recorded to determine whether clearance divers successfully neutralised or detonated the mines.
The training also saw the deployment of autonomous subsea vehicles to identify the presence of sea mines.
Members of the Maritime Deployable Robotic and Autonomous Systems Experimentation Unit, Maritime Geospatial Warfare Unit HMNZS Matutua, and members of the US Navy Mine Countermeasures Squadron 7 took part in the exercise, deployed upon the ADV Guidance. The ship was deployed alongside minehunters HMAS Diamantina and Gascoyne.
“I’m very proud of our efforts down here. It’s no small task to deploy and stretch our ability to deploy from Sydney both by sea and by land in this capacity,” Commanding Officer Clearance Diving Team One Lieutenant Commander Mike Hutchesson told Defence.
“It’s also an opportunity to examine our interchangeability, mixing together EOD techs, divers, and autonomous underwater vehicle operators to get after the mine countermeasure fight.”
Defence explained that the capability forms part of SEA 2000 to deliver rapidly deployable and sophisticated smart sea mines.
