Indian Navy acquires state-of-the-art Australian Minesweeping System

The Australian Minesweeping System (AMAS), developed by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), has secured a major export order with the Indian Navy now becoming the latest client for its innovative system that protects ships from underwater mines.

The organisation said that the sale to India was the largest single overseas order for this technology since its first export in 1992.

The system is now in service with the navies of Australia, USA, Denmark, Poland, Japan, UAE, Indonesia and Thailand. It is marketed by Thales Australia on a global basis.

The DSTO-designed system is the world's first operational sweep which emulates magnetic signals of ships, causing sea mines to detonate prematurely, and safely, out of range of target vessels.

The technology has been further improved in collaboration with Thales Australia.

The Australian Minesweeping System was used during the 2003 Gulf War when it was used by the Royal Navy to clear smart mines from the port of Umm Qasr.

The system requires no form of power from the towing platform and can be towed by a variety of platforms for autonomous and remote control minesweeping operations.

AMAS is a systems approach to minesweeping, comprising a magnetic, acoustic, and electric multi-influence sweep; a sweep tracker monitor system; mission planning support system software; an ECDIS based minesweeping navigation and control system; a remote controlled minesweeping system and a range of integrated logistic support products and services including a shorting band kit and deployment containers.

The sweep can be deployed from mine counter-measure vessels (MCMV), naval support craft, remote controlled drones and Craft of Opportunity, such as fishing vessels.