Royal Navy prepares Ukrainians to clear Black Sea of Russian mines

Royal Navy prepares Ukrainians to clear Black Sea of Russian mines

they are the sea silent killers from Imperial China to the Gulf War Naval mines have been used for centuries Russia is believed to have laid more than 500 of them in the Black Sea part of Vladimir Putin’s effort to blockade Ukrainian ports clearing them will be a Monumental task and much of it will fall to these Ukrainian Sailors the crews of the M sweepers chah and Cassie they’re here in Glasgow to take part in seab breze 24 a two-e exercise to help them prepare for a post War era in the Black Sea the Black Sea now is one of the most dangerous seas in the world ocean because the amount of Mines that Russia has used in our Waters has made it absolutely impossible to use for civilian and Military shipment and training as well chiv and chassi were originally Royal Navy ships the sand class mine Hunters HMS shoram and HMS grimby they were transferred to the Ukrainian Navy last year this exercise one of many these Sailors are taking part in as they learn how to operate alongside NATO navies they will be off the coast of Scotland and they will be finding uh mines that are so uh real that it will be like doing the real operation this exercise has a lot of focus on it it has a lot of preparation and I’m really looking forward to the results ships from five NATO countries including France Germany and Estonia are taking part along with Personnel from 13 Allied Nations including the UK the Black Sea is a vital commercial Gateway for Ukraine ports like Odessa ship up to 5 million tons of grain a month to 42 countries worldwide Russia left the so-called grain deal last year ships used to be able to take this route straight down to the BOS straight and out into the med but now thanks to Russian mines and Kremlin in threats they have to go around hugging the coast of Romania and Bulgaria both NATO members for safety the ukrainians too though laid mines at the start of the war when they feared the Russians would launch an amphibious Landing several commercial ships have been sunk with other mines washing up or even exploding along the coastlines of Romania Bulgaria and even turkey very dangerous I know it’s also taxing on the Black Sea Nations as their forces are are constantly respond responding to civilian calls say 911 or 999 calls for eer for floating objects that are seen sometimes that are mines and often times are not mines but they still have to respond in the interest of Public Safety these former Sandown class mine Hunters have glass reinforced plastic hulls reducing their magnetic signature and extending their lifespan on board is a decompression chamber for the ship’s mine clearance divers and a sonar that can identify an object the size of a football from a kilometer away but even with with all that kit this is a dangerous business so mind hunting is really is really an art form and is really complicated and it’s a bit like trying to play 3D chess because you’re looking you’re looking for an object through a body of water which you can’t see through only by sound you are interpreting sonar pictures once you have an idea that you may have a mine you then have to use your autonomous and your your uncrewed system skills in order to go down and investigate that contact to determine whether it is a threat once you’ve determined whether it is a threat you then have to figure out the best way to dispose of that mine and that may be with an uncrewed system or you may have to put divers in the water and this is one of the autonomous systems the Royal Navy is training the ukrainians to use seaox is a remotely operated submersible that goes down identifies and then if needs be blows up underwater mines it was a challenging for us because we never have been this equipment in in Ukrainian Navy the roal navy help us to understand each capabilities have this equipment uh we have training in HMS Colwood about 2 months for now these Ukrainian M Hunters can’t actually reach the Black Sea the montro convention signed in 1936 means turkey can block access through the boss for straight to any warship during time of War only the ukrainians and the Russians really know how many mines are actually in the Black Sea but these Sailors hope one day to return and as a future member of NATO begin in the job of Dem mining its Dangerous Waters Simon Newton forces news Glasgow thanks for watching for more from forces news like And subscribe to our Channel

A large multinational exercise designed to help Ukraine deal with the threat of Russian sea mines is taking place off the coast of northwest Scotland.

Hosted by the Royal Navy, two Ukrainian minehunters are involved in Exercise Sea Breeze along with ships from five Nato countries including France, Germany and Estonia, plus personnel from 13 allied nations.

Russia is believed to have laid more than 500 naval mines in the Black Sea as part of President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to blockade Ukrainian ports.

More: https://www.forces.net/ukraine/royal-navy-helps-ukrainian-sailors-prepare-monumental-task-clearing-mines-black-sea

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