The new vessel will be transferred to its home port, Turku, by land. The vessel should reach its destination in December. The Katanpää class represents a new mine countermeasure capability for the Navy that is capable of hunting and destroying mines in addition to the already existing contact and influence clearing capabilities.
The “Katanpää” class mine countermeasures vessels are based on the “Lat Ya” class vessel constructed by Intermarine for the Thai Navy, which entered service in 1999.
The hull of the Katanpää class vessels (length 52.4 metres, width approximately 10 metres, displacement 680 t) is made from glass fibre reinforced plastic, using the special “unstiffened monocoque single skin” construction technique adopted for all Intermarine mine hunt ers, but with a new type of glass fibre developed specifically for this project.
For maximum navigation precision in the tricky waters of the Finnish archipelago, propulsion is implemented with two Schottel tunnel bow thrusters.
The vessels feature a complete and highly versatile “Mission Suite”, enabling the Finnish Navy to use the MCMVs as tool boxes, selecting the best system for the mission in relation to environmental and operating conditions. The Katanpää Class MCMVs are fitted with an advanced command and control system (supplied by Atlas Elektronik, with six consoles) and latest-generation mine hunting and neutralisation equipment.
The ability to search for and locate mines is largely based on the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), including the HUGIN 1000 (produced by Kongsberg) and the REMUS (produced by Hydroid), flanked by an Atlas HMS-12M hull-mounted sonar and a side scan sonar (supplied by Klein).
Mine destruction capability is guaranteed by a Double Eagle II reusable ROV (from Saab Underwater System) and a Sea Fox underwater vehicle (from Atlas Elektronik).
Armaments consist of a Bofors 40/70 mm gun supplied by the Finnish Navy. |
