Turkish firm launches new family of UUVs

STM launched a new uncrewed autonomous underwater vehicle (UUV), known as the “NETA 300”, at Saha Expo in Istanbul this week.

Devised principally as a mine-detection vessel, the NETA 300 was pitched as having both a military and civilian use case, which will open up multiple sales channels for the vessel. Built on modular principles with a flexible design that allows its deployment on a wide range of missions, the 300 version was launched as only the first in what STM called “a family of platforms” in the UUV sphere. It will be of most immediate use in shallow waters, up to 300 metres, and having been announced, has now moved on to its pool and sea testing phases.

While designed primarily as a military mine-detector and disposal vessel, at launch, STM said it could be effective in a range of roles, “from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, to anti-submarine warfare, explosive disposal, and pipeline and geophysical surveys”.

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Then the plan is to develop medium-sized and larger unmanned underwater vehicles that can operate at greater depths and on different, longer-term missions. It is in this notion of a full family of UUVs that STM sees the NETA family’s potential export value among what it calls “friendly and allied nations”.

At launch, the NETA 300 had a maximum speed of 5 knots and a maximum operating life of 24 hours on a single battery charge. Larger UUVs would be able to carry sturdier batteries for longer operating lives between charges. The UUV can operate autonomously when deployed on mine countermeasure missions, using side-scan and gap-filling sonar technologies to identify mines in suspected high-risk areas.

STM released no exact timeframe for the growth of the NETA family of UUVs, and the timeline will likely depend on take-up of the initial NETA 300 offering.