Aircraft increase the capability of Royal Navy patrol vessels

By

Royal Navy News

01-31-2021 01:47:00

Drones could play a key role in tracking smugglers and smugglers after successful tests with the newest class of Navy ships on the Channel. HMS Tamar made extensive use of small Puma aircraft during rehearsals with the Royal Navy and meta police as the ship practices for ‘constitutive tasks’ when it first sets out this summer.

Although Tamar has a flight deck, it does not carry a helicopter on a regular basis – there is no hangar, so the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters use the ship only for fuel, collection of supplies or short stop.

The Puma can fulfill some of the role of helicopter intelligence gathering – with its 50x magnification camera, it feeds live shots on a mother ship at distances of up to a dozen miles.

Based on their experiences on the HMS board Albion in the Mediterranean last year, a team from the 700X Squadron Air Naval brought their drone Tamar.

Slightly more than 4½ meters long, with a wingspan of 9 meters and weighing up to six bags of sugar, Puma can observe an area up to 270 square miles ocean in search of suspicious activity during species that last up to in 2½ hours.

Courtesy images of the Royal Navy

“We were under pressure to perform,” said Lt. Ash Loftus, Puma’s flight commander. “There are many additional challenges in preparing and launching security from a ship. “While it is a relatively small aircraft, it has a large arm and requires some skill from the operator who launches it from the ship.”

Puma is relatively cheap – certainly much cheaper than sending a helicopter – easy to launch and recover, difficult for enemies to spot, and keeps the ship away from damage. In short, Puma gave Tamar ‘eyes in heaven’.

“It was very helpful to investigate nearby ships of interest,” Lieutenant Commander Michael Hutchinson said. “We can easily see how useful such a system can be for any future anti-piracy or smuggling operation. It is a significant improvement of the ship’s capabilities and warns well of the future. “

Tamar and its four sisters are deploying worldwide on long-term missions, operating from ports and bases overseas, patrolling regions of strategic interest and importance to the UK.

Constitutional duties – against piracy / terrorism / smuggling – are a key role for new river-class vessels. Ships will typically work with Royal Navy dormitory teams – a mess of 50 people has been built on the ship to accommodate them.

But there may be times when Tamar may be called upon to work with local law enforcement agencies (such as her sister HMS Medway has been doing in the Caribbean, hitting drug runners with the U.S. Coast Guard).

The combined training with the Metropolitan Police on the Channel proved extremely useful for both the largest Navy forces and the UK. Met used Tamar as their ‘floating headquarters’, turning it into a command and control ship to march their boats at RIB speed. The latter are accustomed to the protected waters of the Thames – their normal range ends at Dartford Creek – and seem to function in the fairly hard canal.

“Working with the police proved to be a new experience for all stakeholders – the main fruit was a much greater understanding of each other ‘s skills and how to use them more effectively depending on the operational context, added Commander Lieutenant Hutchinson.

Tamar is now focused on preparing the ship and the ship company for its first overseas deployment, destined for this summer.

This article is courtesy of Royal Navy News and can be found in its original form here.

The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.