NATO Submarine Rescue System
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The NATO Submarine Rescue System (in German : NATO U-Boot-Rettungssystem), NSRS for short, is a comprehensive system for the rescue of sunken submarines , which includes unmanned and manned rescue submarines as well as supporting technology. The entire system is air transportable. Although the name suggests that it is a NATO system , it is actually just a trinational project by France , Great Britain and Norway .
General
The NSRS is a project of the NATO countries France, Great Britain and Norway, which replaces the all-British submarines LR5 and ROV Scorpio . The commissioning took place in mid-2008 and should be the beginning of a planned service life of 25 years. If necessary, the NSRS and the systems operated nationally by Italy and the USA - also NATO members - could rush to the aid of any submarine worldwide that has locks that meet NATO standards. The NSRS, which weighs 29 t in total, can be transported completely in containers for this purpose, with the Boeing C-17 of the Royal Air Force and - in contrast to its predecessor - also with the future Airbus A400M , which will be procured by France and Great Britain among others , air-packable. Some of the components can also be transported with the smaller Lockheed C-130 . Alternatively, the system can also be transported to the site by 23 trucks or ships. For the actual operation, a so-called mother ship (in military jargon Mothership , or MOSHIP for short ) is required, which takes the system on board. For this purpose, the Norwegian Navy, the KV Harstad, and the French Navy , the Argonaute, each operate a ship that was specially designed to accommodate the NSRS and can thus function as a dedicated submarine rescue ship. In addition, every ship with a deck area of at least 400 m 2 with a minimum load capacity of 2.5 t per m 2 can also accommodate the NSRS. There are around 2200 ships worldwide that meet these requirements and should be recorded as completely as possible in a database. In addition to some special military ships, these include offshore support ships. This should enable operational readiness to be established anywhere in the world within 72 hours of receiving the order. The complete system is stationed in the British submarine base Faslane-on-Clyde on the west coast of Scotland .
In order to be able to guarantee a rescue under all known circumstances, four different sub-systems are available: a manned rescue submarine, a system for accommodating the boat on board ships, an underwater robot and a decompression system .
Components
Submarine Rescue Vehicle (SRV)
The SRV is a manned rescue submarine that is used in a so-called SUBSUNK ( submarine sunken ) scenario to evacuate the crew of a sunken submarine (called a distressed submarine , or DISSUB for short). Developed by the British company Perry Slingsby Systems Ltd (PSSL), the SRV is made from a single piece of high-strength steel, grade NQ-1, which allows a maximum diving depth of 610 m - around 50% more than was possible with the LR5. The crew consists of three people; Pilot, copilot and rescue chamber operator . The rescue chamber can hold up to 15 additional people, whereby a pressure of up to 6 bar can be maintained. This is to prevent the rescued from suddenly being exposed to significantly lower pressure after the high pressure in the DISSUB . Docking to the DISSUB can take place with a deviation from the vertical of up to 60 °. The SRV's equipment includes an underwater telephone, fiber optic communication cables and breathing apparatus. A large acrylic dome on the bow should allow a good view. The submarine is driven by two 25 kW (33 HP) electric motors and four smaller electric motors for precise positioning. The required power is supplied from the sodium-nickel-chloride batteries type ZEBRA of Rolls-Royce provided which permit under normal conditions an endurance of 12 h, in an emergency, but are rich h for up to 96th The SRV was delivered in October 2007.
| Technical specifications | |
|---|---|
| length | 8.7 m |
| width | 3.4 m |
| height | 3.49 m |
| Weight | 30 t |
| Max. Depth | 610 m |
| Destruction diving depth | 850 m |
| Top speed (horizontal) | 3.8 kn |
Portable Launch and Recovery System (PLARS)
The PLARS is a system that makes it possible to deploy the SRV up to sea strength 6 from the MOSHIP and also take it back on board. The PLARS can also be air-transported in the C-130 and can be installed on various ships. The core element of the system is a crane that can lift a load of up to 30 t - which is the weight of the SRV.
Intervention Remotely Operated Vehicle (IROV)
The IROV is an unmanned submarine that can be used for a wide variety of tasks. This includes the exact location of the DISSUB, supplying it with essential items (water, food, medication) if an evacuation cannot take place immediately, detecting any leaked radioactivity and freeing a submarine that has become entangled (e.g. B. in a fishing net) and is no longer released on its own. The IROV is based on the Triton SP, which is used in offshore oil production. The IROV is made by the same manufacturer as the SRV, PSSL. Due to the small size, the low weight and the modest amount of additional equipment required, the IROV can start its work well in advance of the SRV on site. The maximum payload of 150 kg can include cable cutters, up to eight cameras, a sonar and lamps with an output of up to 2 kW. In order to be able to use the IROV, a separate system is available that is independent of the PLARS.
| Technical specifications | |
|---|---|
| length | 2.8 m |
| width | 1.575 m |
| height | 1.63 m |
| Weight | 2450 kg |
| Max. Depth | 1000 m |
| Drive power | 75 kW / 100 PS |
| payload | 150 kg |
Transfer Under Pressure (TUP) system
The TUP is used for decompression, i.e. to slowly get used to the atmospheric pressure of about 1 bar on the earth's surface. For this purpose, two decompression chambers with a capacity of up to 68 people are available, which can be pressurized to a maximum of 6 bar. These are supplemented by two small two-person chambers that are intended for individual medical treatment. Although all components of the TUP together have a total weight of around 120 t, it can be dismantled and air-transported.
