The helicopter “Morsa” 07 executes a firing exercise with the unmanned vehicle HammerHead from the Royal Canadian Navy

·      On board the Spanish oiler “Patiño”, the helicopter is part of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2

The helicopter “Morsa” 07, stationed on board the replenishment oiler (BAC in Spanish) “Patiño” and included within the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2), has taken part in a firing exercise with real fire over a controlled vessel from a frigate.

The target is called “Hammerhead” and is an Unmanned Surface Vehicle Target (USV-T), belonging to the Halifax-class frigate (HMSC) of the Royal Canadian Navy. A cruising speed up to 40 knots and with autonomy up to 10 hours at a speed of 25 knots are some of its technical specifications.

During the exercise, the great advantages posed by this kind of targets was revealed, since they simulate with excellent realism the kind of fast vessel employed by terrorist groups to attack ships during its entry and departure from ports. Contrary to the towed targets, they stand out for their flexibility when changing course as well as their speed similar to those ships manned by terrorists. Thanks to the use of these means, the units and shooter´s training is improved, by strengthening the Mobile Force Protection (MFP) of both ships and aircrafts.

During the exercise, several runs using real fires in different sectors and simulating with great realism the reactions taken at the moment a vessel approaches the “main ship”, using aggressive manoeuvres at high speed, were put into practice.

Once again, the great opportunity of participating in international aggrupation in order to experience new techniques or teams is again exploited.