SAES will present next week a study in the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life Conference which deepens on the possible adverse effects of the underwater energy emissions on marine life. The results show that additionally to acoustic noise, other emissions, such as magnetic and electrical require measurement and study.

 

The study will be presented in poster format next Tuesday (12th of July) at 16:30 h by Antonio Sánchez, the head of I+D+i of SAES (Sociedad Anónima de Electrónica Submarina).

 

 

Resumen del Artículo

 

The growing human activity in the marine environment is generating an increasing impact on this field in general and on the marine fauna in particular. This activity produces a wide variety of kind of pollutions, some of which, as is the case of  hydrocarbon or plastic spills, have traditionally been treated, but other ones, as underwater energy radiations, has started to receive a generalized attention from the scientific community and the society in general since much more recent dates.

 

These radiations with potential negative impact on marine fauna, as reflected in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), are not limited to the acoustic influence but other influences as the electric and magnetic ones are also included. On this basis, it becomes necessary to have at our disposal systems than let us to register and analyse these influences to determine their levels, evolution and potential damage on marine fauna.

 

In this context, this study shows the outcomes of the analysis of the acoustic, electric and magnetic background noise from a set of measurement campaigns that took place in an environment of intense human activity in the Mediterranean Sea. These analyses show very significant increments of these radiations in comparison with the values reported in the international literature.

 

Additionally, and on the basis of the gained experience, an autonomous integrated system to detect and analyse acoustic, electric and magnetic radiations is presented.

 

MIRS – Sistema empleado para la medición de las emisiones de los buques.

 

El sistema de medida de firmas (MIRS) para buques de superficie y submarinos desarrollado por SAES, proporciona medidas reales de las influencias de un buque (magnética, presión, eléctrica, acústica y sísmica) en un escenario real y controlado, para contrarrestar con éxito las amenazas. Se encuentra entre los más avanzados sistemas de su clase y en relación a las estaciones fijas. Una ventaja decisiva del sistema MIRS es que, gracias a su portabilidad, bajo peso y consumo y altas prestaciones se pueden obtener las firmas del buque en distintas ubicaciones geográficas.

 

MIRS es también una herramienta para prueba y calibración de:

·         Sistemas destinados a reducir las influencias de los buques como los sistemas de degaussing, ASG, etc.

·         Sistemas MCM como las rastras de influencia.

 

MIRS ha sido diseñado utilizando principalmente equipos COTS (Comercial Off The Self) para garantizar la máxima fiabilidad al menor coste.

The Admiral Chief of Naval Staff, who chaired the closing ceremony of the tournament, was among the 100 participants.

The XXXV Golf Navy Championship took place at the Mondariz Golf Course (Pontevedra) between 10 and 11 June 2016, with the participation of some 100 players who came from different Spanish cities.

 

 

The closing ceremony was chaired by the Hon. Mr. Admiral Chief of Naval Staff Jaime Muñoz-Delgado y Díaz del Rio, with the assistance of various civil and military authorities, and the representation of collaborating companies, as SAES, on whose behalf attended by President Alfredo Gordo.

 

Participants were divided into three categories according to their handicaps, playing in the form of stableford handicap. The champion of the Navy was established by the best result “scratch” within the game mode programmed (stable ford scratch). D. José María García Sánchez, FLOAN-4ª squadron, won the first place in the final Scratch Classification.

SAES, which supports the championship since 2009, spreads the health benefits of playing golf and promotes the core values of sport, such as concentration, discipline, desire to excel and socializing.

SAES has participated at the MARCOM-chaired annual NATO Naval Mine Warfare Conference, hosted by the NATO Naval Mine Warfare Centre of Excellence (NMW COE) from 21 to 23 June 2016.

 

16 NATO- and partner nations and several naval mine warfare entities were represented at this conference.

 

EGUERMIN started as a Belgian-Netherlands Naval Mine Warfare school in 1965 and, since 2006, it is the NATO Naval Mine Warfare Centre of Excellence (NMW COE).

 

SAES is a company at the forefront of market in development and manufacturing of multi-influence naval mines and limpet naval mines. EGUERMIN, that visited SAES at the begginig of the year, shows at its “Mine Display Room” in Belgium, 2 mock-ups of Limpet mine, courtesy of SAES, to enrich their exhibition.

 

Photograph source: EGUERMIN

The study is based on the analysis of the multi-influence signature generated by the vessels as a basis to classify them. The dataset for the study has been obtained with the Multi-Influence Range System, MIRS which allows to register and analyze simultaneously magnetic, electric, seismic, acoustic and pressure influences.

 

The study will be presented next Tuesday (21st of June) at 14.00 horas by Antonio Sánchez, the head of I+D+i of SAES (Sociedad Anónima de Electrónica Submarina) inside the session 3B: Undersea Platforms II – Advanced Submarine Subsystems.

 

Abstract of Article

 

In the defence field, the reduction of the vessel’s multi-influence signature, as a mean to reduce their detectability, configures nowadays as a vital importance element to accomplish their missions and even for their own survival.

 

During the last times, this interest has also moved towards the civilian vessels field, centred mainly in the reduction of the marine environment pollution due to the different energy radiations generated by vessels. In this context, the study centres on the use of the vessel’s multi-influence signature as a basis to perform firstly their detection and secondly their classification from the results of the analysis of correlation among their set of signatures. It is based on real signals from vessels obtained with the Multi-Influence Measurement System, MIRS.

 

The use of this technique permits to increase the capability of use of the MIRS system in fields as the Mine Warfare or the protection of harbour environments, acting either as an independent system or integrated with other sensors, such as the AIS system or surveillance cameras, which collaborate together in the classification process. At the same time this technique permits to configure databases of classified contact multi-influence signatures in an automated way.

 

The MIRS is the system used to measure the emissions of vessels.

 

The SAES Multi Influence Range System (MIRS) for surface vessels and submarines provides real influence measures (magnetic, electric, pressure, acoustic, and seismic) in a real and controlled scenario, to successfully counter related threats. MIRS is among the best systems in the world in its class and compared to fixed stations. A decisive advantage of the MIRS system is that, due to its portability, low weight, low power consumption and high performance, can obtain all signatures of the ship in different geographical locations.

 

MIRS is also a tool for testing and calibration of:

 

•      Systems developed to reduce those influences as degaussing systems, ASG, etc.

•       Systems developed for MCM as the mine sweeping systems.

 

 

MIRS has been primarily designed using Commercial Off The Self (COTS) components for maximum reliability at minimum cost.

The main objective of this project is the design, development and validation of an unmanned underwater vehicle able to carry out missions in highly complex and demanding environments.

 

The project, entitled “MULTIPURPOSE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE FOR DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS AND ROLES IN OCEANIC OPERATIONS  (ITC-20151348)” is regarding a new generation of disruptive vehicles that will provide large capacities to their civilian or military users.

 

SAES’ participation in OCEAN MASTER centers in two aspects: payload of the vehicle and communications between them. As payload are incorporated a Side Scan Sonar (SSS) to perform both bottom surveys and surveillance of channels and harbour accesses and a Diver Detection Sonar (DDS) to detect both divers and objects in the water column. As communication system, an acoustic data link is used to allow the interchange of commands and data between the vehicles.

 

OCEAN MASTER is a multi-regional project being developed in Andalucía, Galicia and Murcia and has a duration of 2 years and a half. The validation sea trials of the last generation unmanned vehicle prototype have been scheduled for December 2017.

 

OCEAN MASTER is supported by Spain and Europe

 

Due to the technological jump posed in the project, as well as the high capacity and experience of the consortium, the OCEAN MASTER project has been selected in the INTERCONECTA 2015 program and is being supported by CDTI, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund in the 2014-2020 Technological Fund Operational Program.

 

 

It is intended to take advantage of the existing knowledge in industries as the naval, electric or electronic ones and auxiliary industries so that their activity can be reactivated in an important degree, implying also the creation of new products, processes and services of strategic interest for the implied sectors. At the same time it is intended that the project boosts the leadership and international positioning in the unmanned marine vehicles sector, strengthening the wealth and employment generation capacity of the Spanish naval industry.

 

Companies participating in OCEAN MASTER

 

The consortium of this project integrates 4 companies with large technical and technological capacity to address the tasks with all the guarantees.

 

• ELINCO integrates a team of technicians with a high professional quality and experience to develop projects, being specialized in the design and realization of all kind of electrical installations, manufacturing of electrical panel boards and control consoles, repair of electromechanical equipments, products and services directed to the naval and industrial sectors.
• GHENOVA is an international multidisciplinary engineering and consulting company that works in the sectors needing an integral solution. The company participates in large projects of high technological complexity for some of the world’s largest firms in the naval, offshore oil & gas, industry and energy, infrastructure, aeronautic and defense sectors.  In nine years of history, GHENOVA has become an engineering of reference in Spain, recognized company in Europe and successfully stablished in Latin America.
• SAES is a highly specialized and internationally recognized company in the electronic and underwater acoustic fields. Its main objectives are the design, manufacturing, assembly, installation, repair, maintenance, import, export and distribution of equipments, tools and electric, electronic and acoustic systems in its most wide sense and centered in the underwater necessities.
• AISTER Integrates 5 divisions related with the naval sector: naval accommodation, thermal isolation and naval carpentry, ship repair and aluminum boiler works, marinas and aquiculture.  With regards the three first activities, AISTER has been working with and for the main shipbuilders of the Vigo estuary and others of the rest of Spain.

 

The agreement includes installation, commissioning, testing, maintenance and end-customer support of several systems: diver detection sonar (DDS-03) for protection of ports, naval mines both exercise and combat versions (MINEA series) and underwater measurements systems (MIRS).

By the agreement, signed in Astana (Kazakhstan), while the fourth edition of KADEX Defence Exhibition was being celebrated, the collaboration between these companies has been reinforced. They already signed in 2014 a memorandum of cooperation for joint production and marketing of Diver Detection Sonars (DDS-03).

This new pact establishes the basis for the production and marketing of underwater surveillance and protection systems based on multi-influence measurements (acoustic, electric, magnetic, seismic and pressure).

SAES (Sociedad Anónima de Electrónica Submarina) is specialized in underwater acoustic and electronics and it is positioned at the forefront of the market in the area of multi-influence underwater measurement and signature intelligence. The familiy of multi-influence naval mines, MINEA, able to detect any signature radiated by a ship and the portable measurements station, MIRS – Multi-influence Range System, ready for quick and easy installation where required to take signature measurements of ships, are two powerful examples of this line of business of the company.

SAES possess the experience of more than 27 years working in numerous naval projects in all types of platform (minehunters, submarines, aircraft Maritime Patrol, ASW Helicopters, Mission Control Centers, Simulation Facilities, etc.), this is an determinant advantage to the success of our technology in the Eurasian continent” company sources highlight.

This is the second agreement reached between SAES and GIDROPRIBOR Kazakhstan. The first, signed in 2014 also during the celebration of KADEX, allowed the introduction, in the area of influence of Caspian Sea, the high frequency active sonar, DDS-03, specially designed for the detection of divers and underwater vehicles, manned and unmanned (SDV, ROV or UUV) for the protection of ports, ships and critical infrastructures.

By this agreement, SAES and GIDROPRIBOR have sealed an alliance in order to meet present and future needs of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan in underwater defense systems.

 

The acoustic field radiated by ships will be studied for 24 months.

 

SAES will have the collaboration of the University of Alicante (UA) to develop the project “Research and Scientific-Technical concerning Vibroacoustic” under the direction of Dr. Jaime Ramis Soriano, member of the Department of Physics, Engineering Systems and Signal Theory of the UA.
 
The basic lines of work of the research group of the AU in the next two years will focus on the study of the acoustic noise radiated by ships and its propagation depending on the noise and the vibration inside them.
 
Before 2020 the Member States of the European Union should take steps to achieve or maintain a good environmental status of the marine environment, according to Directive 2008/56 / EC which establishes a framework for Community action in the marine environment policy. This directive will bring changes in the field of shipbuilding because contemplates Underwater noise as one of the descriptors of Good Environmental Status of seas.
 
The acoustic noise radiated to water from ships has always been confined to the purely military sphere, given the strategic nature of the “acoustic signature” of their boats. In the last years the civil construction industry has made great advances in this field; firstly by understanding the benefits that the construction of silent ships provides, as in the case of ships oceanographic or fisheries research investigation, furthermore, by adapting to the recommendations and regulations of an environmental nature.
 
Apart from the underwater noise of acoustic type, the ships produce magnetic and electrical emissions, also widely studied in the military sector for its strategic implications but not much in the civil sector. In this field, SAES is developing a series of studies of radiation generated by ships, and more specifically on the magnetic and electrical emissions. In addition, SAES has developed the MIRS system (Multi-influence Range System) to measure all these radiations together.
 
The SAES collaboration with the University of Alicante will be developed in this area. SAES cooperates actively with various universities and research centres in order to exploit the complementarily of the resources of the different entities and expand the scope of activities on R & D + i.
 
Currently, SAES contributes in several projects with the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), the University of Murcia (UMU), the University of Malaga (UMA) and the University of Cantabria (UNICAN), and also with the Naval Technology Centre and del Mar (CTN), where SAES is a founding partner and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO).
 
SAES is a Spanish company specialized in underwater acoustics and electronics that provides technology, systems and services in the fields of defence, security and civil. The company, with more than 25 years of experience, consists of research and technical highly qualified personnel in different fields such as electronics, acoustics, design and development software and hardware, methodologies, and operational requirements in the underwater environment.

SAES, S.A. de Electrónica Submarina, has presented two conferences at the first edition of  the NATO Underwater Warfare Interoperability Conference (NUWIC) celebrated at the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia (Italia).

 

Its predecessor, the International Sonobuoy Interoperability Conference (NISIC) was conducted in 14 editions between 1980 and 2011.

 

The objective of NUWIC is to provide an opportunity for technical personnel from NATO nations and other invited governments and industries to hold discussions which focus on underwater warfare related topics; interoperability, standards, processing, new and emerging sensing and platform technologies and other areas of current relevance.

 

 

SAES attends once again to this important professional meeting in Seville from 10 to 13 May, where the main manufacturers, contractors and companies in the aerospace sector meet.

 

The aeronautical industry is one of sectors where the high technology is more demanded, representing an opportunity for the companies that are able to offer innovative solutions for aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

 

SAES that participates with a stand (E19) shows its technological capabilities and products to major companies in the sector, in order to establish business partnerships. Also government representatives of several countries widely surrounded by coast and interested in underwater surveillance are visiting the company in order to look for solutions to prevent unwanted intrusions.

 

The ROASW (Remote Operation ASW System) and the SPAS (Sonobuoy Processing Acoustic System) are examples of systems that provides high functionalities for air and sea platforms and easy integration.

 

Remote Operation ASW (ROASW) System

 

The ROASW system, based on acoustic sonobuoys processing, allows the exchange of information between multiple platforms (surface ships as frigates or corvettes, helicopters, UAVs, …) the centralized management and the rapid making decisions.

 

Installed onboard of manned/unmanned air vehicle, the system allow them to receive via data relay (STANAG 7085 compliance) the acoustic and tactical information from sensors (passive, active and digital). Also, other non acoustic information like Radar and EO can be received. Additionally, the ROASW system is able to collaborate in a Network Centric Warfare (NCW), essential in new ASW/ASuW mission.

 

The Swedish Royal Navy has equipped their Visby class corvettes and HKP-15 helicopters with the ROASW system.

 

SPAS – Sonobuoy Processing Acoustic System

 

SPAS systems is other SAES system that covers completely the new requirements of ASW missions.The system SPAS detects, localizes and tracks submarines and surface ships based on analysis of acoustic signals acquired by deployed passive and active sonobuoys both analog and digital versions.

 

SAES delivers a complete ASW solution System; SPAS is integrated with other equipments as a Digital Recorder (DR), Digital Sonobuoy Receiver (SDSR), Preamplifier/s, V/UHF Transceiver, Directional Finder, Sonobuoy Launcher, etc… conforming a complete Sonobuoy Processing Acoustic System.

 

SPAS is installed and fully operative onboard aircrafts (P-3B/M Orion MPA and C-295 MPA aircraft), Helicopters (SH-60B LAMPS and HKP15 A-109) and Surface Ships (Visby Class Corvettes).

Tomorrow April 20 afternoon at 19.00 in the UPCT will be held the “Conferences to mark the LXX anniversary of the creation of Mine Countermeasures Force”.

 

SAES, which maintains a continued close working relationship with the MCM Force will participate with a lecture entitled “The present of Mine Warfare”. This conference will be preceded by two others: “Basic Concepts on Minewarfare and description of the MCM Force” and “Why mine hunting? Spanish Minehunter”, offered by the MCM Force and Navantia respectively.

 

SAES has participated in the two series of spanish minehunters supplying various equipment and simulators currently operating on such vessels.