Royal Navy: UK, US and Australia engineers test underwater vehicles prepping for HMS Prince of Wales exercise

British, American and Australian personnel have trialled a series of technologies which could be used during Exercise Talisman Sabre - which HMS Prince of Wales and the UK Carrier Strike Group will be involved in.

The trials will shape how sub-sea and seabed warfare tests will be carried out during the operation. Commodore Marcus Rose, Deputy Director Underwater Battlespace Capability, said: “This exercise, working alongside our AUKUS and industrial partners, has further demonstrated the value of our joint endeavours in the underwater domain.

“The exercise facilitated close collaboration in the use of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), with the aim of developing interchangeable seabed warfare capabilities at pace.”

Sailors from the navy’s Diving and Threat Exploitation Group and Mine and Threat Exploitation Group took part in the trials off the coast of Virginia Beach, near the world’s largest naval base in Norfolk, USA. These were carried out as part of the Aukus defence partnership.

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Personnel are developing advanced military capabilities which can be used to bolster Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security, the Royal Navy said. In this case, the engineers were focusing on sub-sea and seabed warfare capabilities.

They chartered Island Pride, a commercial boat from robotics company Ocean Infinity, to use her extensive hangar and commercially-available HUGIN Superior autonomous underwater vehicles to gather sensors using a range of sensors. This operation allowed personnel to use both current and prototype technology to find, monitor and remove seabed threats at varying depths.

Various mission scenarios were carried out including monitoring and defending underwater infrastructure - gas pipelines and undersea cables - salvaging lost equipment, and disarming or destroying mines and explosive objects.

Once the HUGIN Superior autonomous underwater vehicle had sent back its surveying data, the teams could then use their Video Ray Defender remotely-operated vehicle to identify or deal with the objects at depth. Exercise Talisman Sabre will be part of HMS Prince of Wales’ first ever visit to Australia. A total of 19 nations will be taking part.