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Australia to speed up purchase of sea mines to boost maritime defense

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Good news in a country that almost every citizen has a rod and boat.

then there is thousands of international fishing boat. What could go wrong?

luckily Aussie doesn’t have some of the worlds worst environmental experiences.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

advanced sea mines to protect its maritime routes and ports

The more you study the wonders of astronomy and let your mind elaborate on the thousands of possible kinds of life-harboring environments and its civilizations the more you realize how primitive are the most intelligent species of this little piece of rock. Still a long way to go.

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Waste of more tax payers money. China doesn't need to invade as it is already infiltrating from within.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

That doesn’t make sense and is only another useless and expensive way to burn taxpayers’ money. Australia has a coastline of 25,000 km . That alone would require 1 mio. of such mines, placed every 25 meters, let’s say that’s the width of an incoming fregate or so. But of course those aren’t stupid too. They first send a little unmanned boat or device to bring the mine to explosion. And voila, there’s already a bigger entrance gate for some fregates, and that’s already after the first deactivated mine of the one million ones. You see, it’s just only an illusion to think of those mines as a mean of defense.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Good thing there isn’t a type of ship called a minesweeper.

oh wait, there is. and now you told all the other navies to be prepared for those.

so umm…Never mind. Hope you didn’t spent too much on those.

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Minesweepers are very slow in detecting mines and clearing them. But they also need to know where they are laid.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

But they also need to know where they are laid.

I have no idea where you learned your naval history.

Again: your theory is that a minesweeper only works if they already know where the mine is?

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Kinda like you already need to know where the metal is for a metal detector to work, right? /s

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

Ships had to be demagnetised after WW2 to avoid all the magnetic mines (still) left in the seas.

If crisis starts, these forgotten weapon-types will be cried out for.

Seems like someone is planning contingencies (too much).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Submarines are especially vulnerable to mines. Current smart mines will only attack military targets.

Good news in a country that almost every citizen has a rod and boat.

then there is thousands of international fishing boat. What could go wrong

Perhaps you should be more concerned for those who fish in Chinese waters, as China has stockpiled over 100,000 sea mines. I am sure Chinese fishermen will be totally safe in wartime.

That doesn’t make sense and is only another useless and expensive way to burn taxpayers’ money. Australia has a coastline of 25,000 km . That alone would require 1 mio. of such mines, placed every 25 meters, l

Wow, how little some know. Important waterways and ports get defensive mines, not the entire coastline. And some are used offensively to mine enemy ports and waterways. That is all.

Waste of more tax payers money. China doesn't need to invade as it is already infiltrating from within.

Laughable and ludicrous idea.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I served on a mine sweeper in the RN and I'm quite knowledgeable about them.

If a port is mined to protect it against foreign invasion, not like invading nation can send in a sweeper first.

There are also now robot sweepers but they need to know where to search.

Sea mines have been used by the U.S. Navy since the Revolutionary War.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Yet my simple roomba could map out the entire interior of my home all by itself. How odd.

But ok seems like a waste of money and will just cause more of the Black Sea type Ukraine/Russia mess with mines.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

Yet my simple roomba could map out the entire interior of my home all by itself. How odd.

I guess your little room is much smaller than an ocean or the 34 000 kilometres of the Australian coastline, or all the ports.

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Again: your theory is that a minesweeper only works if they already know where the mine is?

He is correct. You have to find the mine to get rid of it. Not always an easy task. Navies use divers, ROVs and marine mammals (dolphins and killer whales) to find mines. They have other remotely operated systems to attack the mine. Driving a wooden hulled ship through a minefield dragging sweep gear gets your ship sunk. Pressure mines do not react to magnetic hulls but the difference in water pressure as the ship passes by. Other mines can be programmed to only detonate for certain acoustic signatures. The US used to have a mine that carried a torpedo that would only fire at Soviet subs. It was called CAPTOR and it was tied by an undersea cable to a land station. Minesweeping is complex and time consuming, and exceedingly dangerous. I have a little insight from an involvement in a minesweeping system. Most navies are moving to ROVs and helicopters for mine removal.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Sea mines have been used by the U.S. Navy since the Revolutionary War.

The latest innovation in minelaying is to attach something very much like a JDAM guidance kit to the tail and a wing kit. With that an aerial mine can glide a significant distance, 40 + Km from the aircraft yet land in a precise location on the surface, Several bombers can lay a precision minefield from standoff distances in contested waters. Think B-52 on the eastern side of Taiwan laying hundreds of mines in the Taiwan strait without ever flying over the strait and exposing themselves to Chinese air defense missiles.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Perhaps you should be more concerned for those who fish in Chinese waters, as China has stockpiled over 100,000 sea mines. I am sure Chinese fishermen will be totally safe in wartime.

Those Chinese fishermen will be laying a lot of those mines in the waters off China.

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The greatest problems for minesweeper ships are the hulls are made of wood or fiberglass to avoid magnetic mines and they have shallow flat bottoms making them very difficult for crossing oceans. I have been on one in the Atlantic and also crossing the Bay of Biscay in a violent storm which took three days.

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The greatest problems for minesweeper ships are the hulls are made of wood or fiberglass to avoid magnetic mines and they have shallow flat bottoms making them very difficult for crossing oceans. I have been on one in the Atlantic and also crossing the Bay of Biscay in a violent storm which took three days.

It buys them no protection from other kinds of mines. Navies are moving away from dedicated minesweepers in part because they can't always be where you need them. Helicopters with mine removal gear can use any helicopter capable ship and are highly effective. ROVs can be deployed from regular combat ships to find and destroy mines (different ROVs for each job). LIDAR mounted to a helicopter is a new technology used to find underwater mines. If you have to wait for a minesweeper you could lose your initiative in a campaign. Mine detection and removal has to be done by forward deployed combat forces.

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Desert Tortoise

I agree with your comment but there are hundreds of minesweepers and minehunters in use.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Sea mines were first used by the Chinese.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Is China planning an amphibious landing on the continent of Australia? Like Hitler's Operation Sea Lion? Very surprised!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

@Desert : You think the B52s can laying seamines in the eastern side of Taiwan?

Well I want to tell you the Pacific seabed was like a cliff down there could be 1000meters at least in depth. Far beyond seamines operation depth. Most seamines were laid at seabed less than 50meters, most likely very shallow waters. If the B52s flew over the strait and dropping mined at Chinese shallow seabed, well the fighters and SAMs were well within their range. Plus Chinese navy destroyers also has SAMs ready.

Not a good idea!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

let me ask simple question.

what country is going to attack Australia?

New Zealand?

what for is good all of this warmongering?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

EastmannToday 07:00 pm JST

let me ask simple question. what country is going to attack Australia? New Zealand? what for is good all of this warmongering?

You seem surprised that Australia bothers to have a defense force. But i dont hear you question why China has over 100,000 mines stock piled and why China has the worlds largest Army and Navy when it has no enemies. Who is planning to attack China? Why does it waste so much money on continually building its military?

Question China before you bother to question Australia. Australia does not start wars as China has. Australia is not claiming international waters or other nations as China is.

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Who is going to attack China?

UNITED STATES & her allies including Australia . The 1953 truce signed in Panmunjon of 27th July that year was a ceasefire, not a forever peace treaty. The Korean war was not yet ended and it might exploding to be a global war if either side wanna to fight all over again!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@Desert : You think the B52s can laying seamines in the eastern side of Taiwan?

Re-read what I wrote. B-52s operating to the east of Taiwan can launch mines that have a wing and guidance kit allowing them to glide great distances and be placed in the Taiwan Strait. The idea is to mine the strait, and presumably other strategic areas of China or other potential enemies, from long distances. Having the guidance kits allows the mines to be precisely placed. A handful of B-52s could lay hundreds of mines in the Taiwan Strait without ever having to fly over the strait and expose themselves to Chinese air defenses.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

what country is going to attack Australia?

There have been occasions where Chinese officials have told Australian diplomats quite bluntly that if they side with the US in any conflict that involves China Australia would "lose cities". Is that enough of a threat for you? Ask yourself why last summer when two Chinese ships were passing through the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea the Chinese destroyer lased the RAAF P-8 that was keeping tabs on them. Could have blinded the pilots.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Read up on Quick Strike mines. These can be launched from any aircraft capable of carrying conventional bombs including the P-8, B-52 and all the different tactical jets.

https://seapowermagazine.org/navy-orders-quickstrike-extended-range-glide-kits-for-sea-mines/

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Aussies are so funny..

Buy more farm tractors instead of weapons..

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Aussies are so funny..Buy more farm tractors instead of weapons.

I may be wrong, but gung-ho farmers on tractors will not bolster the defense of Australia. Sea mines on the other hand can sink enemy ships. Australia is better buying sea mines for defense and tractors for food production. We have lots of tractors already, what we need is sea mines. And so we are now getting them.

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