Joint Swedish-Dutch trials of the SAM Mine-Countermeasures ROV

The HNLMS Urk, a Royal Netherlands Navy minehunter, has been on a visit to Karlskrona to demonstrate her new sonar. This is the same system procured by the Royal Swedish Navy for its new Koster-class vessels.

The visit presented an ideal opportunity to carry out some joint manoeuvres with Kockums’ recently launched SAM 3 mine-countermeasure ROVs. Rear Admiral Odd Werin, Chief of Naval Operations/Royal Swedish Navy, and his Royal Netherlands Navy counterpart, Rear Admiral Wim Nagtegaal, were there to view the proceedings, accompanied by Kockums’ President Jan-Olof Johansson and other Kockums staff.

It was quite a gathering when representatives for the three client countries in the mine countermeasures sector (Sweden, Finland and Holland) assembled to hear the latest information and to harmonise the specifications for the new SAM system.

“It was an important and urgently required meeting,” notes Thomas Johansson, who is Project Manager for SAM.

Project managers from the respective countries were there, and Kockums staff presented several studies and analyses, as well as demonstrating the SAM system in the water.

SAM - an autonomous remote-controlled minesweeper – has shown itself to be highly effective. Kockums has sold many of the earlier generation design to export customers. The new SAM generation is now available in prototype.