| May
2005
(May 13, 2005 – Pocasset,
MA) Hydroid Inc. announced today that they have
recently received a multi-year contract from the United
Kingdom Ministry of Defence for ten REMUS Autonomous
Underwater Vehicle (AUV) systems.
Hydroid has teamed with QinetiQ and
Babcock Design & Technology on the Ministry of Defence
contract. QinetiQ will play a major role in the provision
of logistic and service support, utilizing its expertise
in UUV technology to maintain and service the vehicles
and its waterside trials facility for training, testing
and acceptance. QinetiQ will also play a major role
in all of the in-country service and support requirements
over the five year Contractor Logistic Support period
following acceptance into service of the AUV systems
early in 2006.
Commenting on the recent contract
Phil Jenkin from the U.K. Mine Countermeasures Equipment
IPT of the Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) said: “REMUS
will enable the Royal Navy to undertake rapid mine reconnaissance
in the Very Shallow Water (VSW) zone an area which,
currently, is accessible to divers only. Employing REMUS
will reduce the risk to clearance divers during operations
in the detection and clearance of maritime mines."
In addition to undertaking hydrographic
surveys and environmental monitoring for the Royal Navy,
REMUS can be deployed in a general search and salvage
role in support of humanitarian operations involving
both military and civilian authorities. REMUS was selected
by the DPA to provide a VSW Mine Countermeasures (MCM)
capability following a thorough and competitive procurement
process, which considered operational effectiveness,
safety, support and whole-life costs.
Hydroid delivered (2) REMUS systems
to the United Kingdom in 2003 to support a DPA funded
VSW AUV Equipment Technology Demonstrator Program. This
examined the utility and effectiveness of AUV technology
and identified a baseline capability that would contribute
to providing a VSW MCM capability.
Kevin McCarthy, Hydroid’s vice
president of marketing noted that “With systems
presently in use in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
and soon in Belgium, Hydroid is successfully expanding
the REMUS technology into NATO navies.”
McCarthy goes on to report, “The
contract with the United Kingdom’s Ministry of
Defence represents a major milestone in Hydroid’s
growth, and in the continuing world-wide acceptance
of the REMUS technology. The REMUS systems that will
be delivered to the Ministry of Defence will be transitioned
into the Royal Navy for fleet use. This contract represents
the first time a navy outside of the United States is
procuring systems not for evaluation, but rather, for
fleet use to conduct mine countermeasure activities.”
Hydroid Inc. holds the exclusive license
from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the
manufacture and further development of the REMUS Autonomous
Underwater Vehicle (AUV) technology.
For further information
contact Kevin McCarthy, Vice President of Marketing
at Hydroid at Tel 508-563-6565, e-mail kmccarthy@hydroidinc.com.
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