Underwater Battlespace 2011

Navies’ globally are experiencing ever competing demands for resources. Maintaining and enhancing Mine Counter Measures (MCM) Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and naval Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, where possible, is increasingly important to ensure operational security and freedom for naval forces.

With the proliferation of quieter, smaller submarines able to operate out of the blue and into littoral waters, this task, and that of maritime security more widely, has become even harder. Also, advances in torpedo technology have made surface vessels more vulnerable to surprise attack, as painfully shown in the sinking of the South Korean Navies’ ‘Cheonan’ earlier this year.

Given the increased threat environment and parallel reductions in defence budgets and resources, the need to make the most of current capabilities and the development of new, affordable and multi-role solutions has never been more important.

Defence IQ’s 9^th annual Underwater Battlespace conference will explore these difficult issue and more. This event will bring the underwater capability and procurements communities together for you, to discuss the current and future requirements for MCM, ASW, naval ISR, harbour security and UUV strategies and solutions.

·         Examining current mine warfare techniques and MCM technology with the NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC) and the UK Royal Navies’ Mine Countermeasures, Hydrographic, Patrol Craft (MHPC) project

·         Developments in ASW doctrine and capabilities including the US Airborne ASW Helicopter Maritime Strike capability and net-centric AUV ASW with NURC

·         Understanding the latest UUV technologies including advances in automation and systems architecture development with the US Naval Surface Warfare Centre

·         Exploring advances in underwater systems across sensors, sonar and acoustics including auto target recognition (ATR) software and Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS)

·         Understanding the latest conventional and unconventional threats to naval assets and harbour protection strategies including long term surveillance and underwater geo-spatial intelligence with the Royal Navy