The Italian Ministry of Defense’s Naval Armaments Directorate (NAVARM) has issued a preliminary market consultation notice for the procurement of one containerized naval mine laying system for in-service munitions (including those for training).
The mine laying system is meant to be deployed on board all the Italian Navy’s newest vessels equipped for accommodating containerized systems on their stern deck area. These include:
The procurement will allow the Italian Navy to acquire the mine laying capability for the new naval platforms under construction or acquisition.
“The system shall raise the current safety standards during the storage and transport phases of such weapons from ammunition depots to the vessels”, according to the document, as well as increase the standardization of mine deployment from different naval platforms.
The new mine laying system will have to consist in two ISO20 standard containerized modules:
The system will also have to include a support system for the planning, execution and evaluation of naval mine laying operations (so-called Planning and Evaluation system – “P&E”). The latter has to feature the digital cartographic representation of the areas subject to mining and the planned laying positions, calculation of the actual laying position, deviation from the planned point, visualization and countdown of the laying time of each individual mine relative to the planned position, recording of relevant data from laying activities, export of laying data in AML format (Additional Military Layer – STANAG 7170) and NATO ADatP-3/APP-11 format.
The system must be capable of being secured to the deck with twist-lock systems, while all the necessary arrangements for the proper functioning of the system (i.e., electrical power supply) must be ensured from the above-mentioned naval vessels. In particular, the containers must be positioned keel-wise in the aft section of the vessels in order to allow easy release of the mines. In the case of the new CNG-C MCMVs, the mine laying system will consist only by the launcher module.
The system shall ensure, according to the document, adequate redundancy, reliability and maintainability, a ten-year maintenance plan (to be carried out by MMI personnel), and a logistic support and sustainment period for the system in-service management for five years.
The provider will have to supply training courses for operators and maintainers, both onboard and ashore, while the system acceptance shall be subject to sea trials during a so-called OPEX (Operational Experimentation) campaign.
The responding industry has to demonstrate the possession of an agreement with the design authority of the mines, RWM Italia headquartered in Ghedi near Brescia, for the design/configuration of the fire programme loading systems (MP-80/Murena/Asteria) or setting systems (Manta), and possession of the license for use or the ability to obtain such license. In this regard, the economic operator must declare its availability, if requested by NAVARM, to carry out suitability tests at its own expense aimed at confirming the declared capabilities, according to the document. The estimated value of the supply/service, is indicated in €8 million (VAT not applicable) with an estimated contract duration of 730 calendar days, providing a declaration of conformity with the REACH Regulation, among other obligations. The interested industries have to respond to the notice in 21 days from its publication.
