Crotone and Rimini are ready to set sail to contribute to the great international operation in the most controversial stretch of sea of the moment. The secrets of the two Navy units and how they will act in the Strait. Provided that the agreement between the USA and Iran allows it
Rimini and Crotone: by a curious contrast, the names of two beautiful places that immediately make you think of the sea and holidays are on the stern of two Italian ships, engaged in one of the most dangerous operations for our Navy since the Second World War to today. They are currently in Djibouti, at the entrance to the Red Sea, awaiting the start of the international operation to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz, if the terms of the agreement between the United States and Iran allow it. A hard and complicated job, which involves around 500 Navy men and is requiring a scientific study. Starting from the type of seabed – rock, sand, vegetation, which can hide bottom mines – the currents, salinity and temperature of the water, which affect the propagation of sound which is the basis of the operation of the sonar which allows us, with the return echo, to identify underwater objects and classify them. And then there are the damn mines. Of various kinds, depending on the country that produces them, of different shapes or sizes, even if their functioning in the end is almost the same. There are some with one sensor or more sensors, from the bottom, that is, resting on the seabed, or moored to a chain and floating at about 50-60 meters of depth. With magnetic, acoustic or contact sensors. The chain ones are ideal for depths of 130-150 metres, while the bottom ones, to be effective against ships and submarines, cannot be more than 100 metres. Without rhetoric, our specialists will face potential hell.
DIVERS ON BOARD
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Crotone and Rimini (both Gaeta Class minehunters, 52 meters long and about ten meters wide) have been in service for over 30 years and usually positioned in La Spezia: they are part of the fifth naval division, a unit of excellence within NATO. Ships that are built in fiberglass and not in steel – like all the other recent ones of the Navy – precisely to be invisible to the magnetic sensors of the mines and to reduce vibrations and noise at sea: even the slightest magnetic signature produced by the metal parts of the units is canceled by the degaussingor a contrary magnetic field. In addition to the propellers and rudder, there is also an auxiliary propulsion system with three engines (one at the bow and two at the stern) which manages to keep the ship stationary despite winds and currents to analyze a potentially dangerous object. The main engine (a GMT BL-230.8M diesel) allows a maximum speed of 15 knots and a range of 2500 miles. In addition to the usual crew, the minehunters take on board specialized divers who constantly train in the waters of Italian ports and the Strait of Messina. Using sonar they are able to scan stretches of sea in search of mines – surfacing, at anchor or from the seabed – and then set them off. Once upon a time, crew members were responsible for placing explosive charges, exposing themselves to enormous risks. Today divers rarely get close, mostly to gather intelligence information on the characteristics and probable origin of the mines. Thanks to new technologies, counter-mining operations are entrusted to marine drones piloted remotely by on-board personnel.
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NEW UNITS COMING SOON
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Drones have recently been joined by new autonomous vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence that can reach up to 3000 meters of depth and are crucial in patrolling and protecting strategic underwater infrastructures such as oil pipelines and underwater telecommunications cables. On the other hand, minehunters have also made a technological leap in recent years, so much so as to push Italy to order five new generation units from Intermarine and Leonardo, over 60 meters long, which will be delivered starting from 2029. Returning to the operation in the Strait, we are in the countdown. “We are waiting for the operation area to be communicated to us to find out how large it will be and how many boxes it will be divided into, how many minehunters will be involved in addition to ours and which will be our action boxes. Then with the sonar and in slow motion we will begin the classification of the objects that will be detected, also with the use of the data provided by the Remus 300 mini-submarine. At that point we will intervene with the Rovs, wire-guided vehicles equipped with sonar and cameras to identify the mines and make them explode with a mine clearance charge, or – especially in the case of chain bombs – the teams of divers from the Comsubin Underwater Operational Group will descend to neutralize the mines. These are complex and delicate operations: they have diving suits in which even the breathing apparatus are non-magnetic” explained a The Corriere della Sera Rear Admiral Cristo Salvatore Traetta who coordinates the activity of the two naval units that set sail in May. It should be underlined that while other navies, such as the French and British, have decisively turned only to autonomous drones, the Italian one has opted to maintain manned minehunters, supported by new autonomous vehicles, both surface (Intermarine is developing innovative ones), both underwater and aerial. Furthermore, if the limits of the minefield are not known, it is impossible to know where to stop with the drone ships to begin reconnaissance activities. And minehunters, with highly capable crews like ours, are once again indispensable for moving safely and quickly. Good wind.
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