On 1 March, in the waters off the Gulf of La Spezia, the first scheduled activity of 2023 was completed in Mine Warfare Polygon: Mine Warfare Testing Range (MWTR), of the command of mine countermeasures forces.
The activity took place regularly also thanks to the support of Nave Fasan, dependent on the XNUMXst Naval and Ship Division Lipsticks forming part of the hydrographic and experience ships squadron, which was used both as a platform for laying the polygon, and subsequently as a target, to verify and analyze the correct functioning of the mine, its sensors, the operating logics.
But how is the Mine Warfare Polygon structured? It basically consists of an exercise mine with the same logic and sensors inside as a real naval mine, which records all the data collected by its sensors. These data, combined with those of the Units that perform the "target" function, are collected by a ground station which, by processing them, is able to define how the mine is influenced by the passage of the ship and therefore establish the probability that the ship itself has to activate a naval mine in those conditions.
The activation of the polygon is necessary in order to be able to calibrate the logic and sensors of the exercise mines with which the office is equipped, and to be able to verify their functioning and their interaction with the various naval units.
The continuous study and analysis of the data collected through the polygon have the dual purpose of understanding the functioning and reliability of naval mines and, at the same time, the probability that the Naval Units have of soliciting and activating them in real cases.
The Mining and Polygons office is another feature that only Maricodrag has. Thanks to it, in fact, the command of mine countermeasures forces holds the knowledge to assist in the drafting and planning of minefield plans, as well as planning and coordinating the laying of minefields. Thanks to'expertise of its personnel, Maricodrag also offers training courses on the use of these systems to foreign navies, as in the case of the Royal Australian Navy.
In a historical period in which the threat from naval mines has returned to being more than current following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Mine Warfare Polygon turns out to be an essential tool for the command of mine countermeasures forces in the service of the naval team and the Navy.
