Mines for All My Friends

I really can't stop thinking about how smart this is.

A dirty little secret is that one of the largest deltas out there in the maritime sector between what we know what will be needed in wartime vs. what we have invested in at peace is mine warfare.

Since WWII more US Navy ships have been damaged by mines than any other weapon, and yet from money to promotion prospects, MIW is always put in the dusty corner.

Without even diving in to the capability mire of defensive MIW - even more neglected is offensive MIW.

How do you create a capability for this for the USA and her allies when it is almost non-existant? 

Yes, I have been a critic of mission modules the last few decades - at least the American ones - mostly because they were sold along with vapor-ware, pixie dust, and unicorn farts ... but where done right, they are a solution.

Via Dimitris Mitsopoulos at Naval News, here's a good mission module concept that looks like it can be put on a whole host of platforms with minimal modifications.

The Cube is a container-based modular payload concept that was first launched in 2020 by SH Defence. Today, the Cube portfolio consists in a range of over 300 payloads ranging from propulsion systems to decoy launchers and even search and rescue modules. The latest addition to The Cube ecosystem was unveiled during MAST Med 2020 conference and exhibition that took place in Athens, Greece in 2-4 November 2022: It is a Containerized Mine Laying System which can easily and quickly turn navy ships into mine laying platforms. Naval News met with Peter Liisberg during the event to learn more. 

The Cube consists of standard modules that fulfill common demands enabling the reconfiguration of naval vessels from one mission to another in less than 4 hours. It provides a unique multi-mission capability thanks to ready mission bays and equipment installed in standardized 20’ or 40’ Cubes-containers equipped with an adaptor frame, the Flex Frame. The innovative shell is designed to protect the equipment and ensure it is fully reliable and operating seamlessly in both arctic areas and regions with extreme heat. With the Cube system, any Navy can turn (almost) any platform into a multi-mission vessel.

 

Fine, maybe it is just me, but that is sexy as hell.