Ukrainian Naval Personnel Train to Neutralize Mines Using SeaFox Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Ukrainian naval personnel trained to neutralize sea mines using SeaFox remotely operated unmanned underwater vehicles during exercises in the United Kingdom.

Forces News reported on the training on October 12, with its journalists visiting the Sandown-class minehunter Cherkasy.

British mine countermeasures specialists conducted the training as part of Operation Interflex Maritime and assessed Ukrainian minehunter crews’ capabilities.

They first deployed the reconnaissance version of the SeaFox, equipped with a camera and sonar. The vehicle surveyed the seabed and located a training mine about the size of a barrel, placed by British military personnel.

After locating the target, the crew used a training version of the vehicle to practice the mine disposal procedure without using explosives.

In the final stage, the sailors deployed the combat version of the SeaFox C, equipped with an explosive charge weighing approximately 1.5 kg. The vehicle was remotely guided toward the training mine and detonated alongside it.

SeaFox is a family of remotely operated unmanned underwater vehicles developed by German company Atlas Elektronik to detect, identify, and neutralize naval mines.

The vehicle is equipped with sonar and a video camera and is controlled via a fiber-optic cable. The SeaFox is approximately 1.3 meters long and weighs around 40 kg. It can operate at depths of up to 300 meters.

The SeaFox I reconnaissance variant is reusable, whereas the SeaFox C combat variant neutralizes mines by detonating its onboard explosive charge and is expended in the process.

The training of Ukrainian naval personnel is aimed at preparing for future mine clearance operations in the Black Sea, which could continue for years after the hostilities end.

Militarnyi previously reported that five Ukrainian mine countermeasure vessels are based in the United Kingdom: Cherkasy and Chernihiv of the Sandown class, and Mariupol, Melitopol, and Henichesk of the Alkmaar class.

In addition, following a week of intensive training off the southern coast of the United Kingdom, the five Ukrainian mine countermeasure vessels conducted joint PASSEX exercises with the British destroyer HMS Dauntless in the Solent Strait.