By Nathan Stone,
Trident Staff
NATO representatives from both sides of the Atlantic met at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax from February 25–27 to discuss the latest developments and techniques in naval mine warfare.
The meeting was attended by mine warfare experts from Canada, the United States, and European NATO nations, making up a subset of the Naval Mine Warfare Working Group (NMWWG), which works to standardize naval mine warfare doctrine and capabilities within the NATO alliance.
Much of the discussion focused on Experimental Tactics (EXTAC) for finding mines and safely navigating minefields.
“The main focus of this meeting was the review of existing mine warfare related EXTACs as well as the development of a new EXTAC for using Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) technology,” says Lieutenant-Commander (LCdr) James Gallant, who hosted the event on behalf of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).
SAS is an emerging sonar technology that produces high-quality images with up to 30 times higher resolution than traditional sonar.
German Navy Commander Stefan Pahl chaired the meeting and began the discussion with an overview of best practices for using both SAS and traditional sonar to identify mines.
While the RCN doesn’t currently operate mine countermeasure vessels, Canada still contributes to NATO mine warfare efforts through participation in mine warfare exercises and testing new technology, including SAS and underwater autonomous vehicles. RCN Clearance Divers are experts in underwater mine disposal among NATO forces.
The NMWWG last met at CFB Halifax in the fall, with the full group gathering on base from October 15–18, 2024 for their annual conference.
That meeting was followed by a Naval Mine Warfare Symposium October 21-24, hosted at His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Scotian, where members of the group met with defence industry representatives for discussions around new products and technologies.
Hosting NMWWG events allows the RCN to meaningfully contribute to NATO’s mine warfare efforts and stay up to date with the alliance, says LCdr Gallant.
He described the most recent meeting in Halifax as a success, noting that the group met all its objectives and held tactical discussions that will have a positive impact on NATO’s mine warfare efforts.
“The main goal was to ensure that member nations are able to work better together and be more effective in real-world operations.”
