Anschütz has delivered an integrated solution for Mine Countermeasures (MCM), command and control, and navigation for two mine countermeasures vessels of the Indonesian Navy. The ships were officially handed over to the customer at the end of May 2023 by the Abeking & Rasmussen shipyard.
Solution partner for customised mission systems
The integrated solution is equipped with Synapsis NX navigation and bridge systems, an integrated SYNTACS command and control system, and a cutting-edge mine hunting sonar system. This enables state-of-the-art MCM operations that are highly accurate, safe and efficient from initiation to mission success.
"We have developed and delivered an integrated solution for the customer that improves mission performance and streamlines on-board processes", said Dr Thomas Lehmann, Head of Integrated Mission Solutions business unit at Anschütz. “This is exactly what distinguishes us as a solution partner: we deliver a tailor-made integrated system that provides real added value to the customer.”
As a solution partner, Anschütz accompanies the customer throughout the entire process, from the project initiation to implementation and after-sales service.
"In the first step, it is important for us to understand the concept of operations of the respective end customer", said Mike Boschmann, who served as Programme Manager for the MCM vessels. “We base our solution on this; It is tailor-made for the requirements and use cases, taking into account all technical parameters and the customer's requirements in logistics and after-sales service support.”
The initial consultation results in the specification of the requirements. Within the framework of requirements management, the requirements are then analysed and broken down into individual use cases for which an efficient solution is designed. The core of these solutions is the SYNTACS application from Anschütz which evaluates and correlates data available on board and provides the operator with a clearly structured dashboard for tactical navigation and mission planning and execution. SYNTACS offers a wide range of software modules and is sensor-agnostic, enabling flexible and efficient integration of sensors, systems and functionalities tailored to customer and mission requirements.
"In this phase, we are not only the competent integrator for our customers, but also use our expertise to map our solution exactly onto the customer's needs. The customer gets what they really need from us while staying within their budget", said Boschmann.
As an integrator, Anschütz realises the integrated solution on the basis of the system design, from the selection and management of third-party systems to the definition of interfaces and finally to the merging of the individual systems into the integrated solution. Furthermore, Anschütz takes responsibility and makes sure that the system meets the customer's requirements. The customer is always able to contact an experienced programme management team throughout the entire process, right up to successful testing at sea and also beyond.
"Navigation and mission systems are critical. Therefore, we design our solutions in such a way that we achieve high operational availability. After the delivery of the systems, we use our many years of experience in service support to assist customers with logistical services, system maintenance and technical service according to their requirements", said Boschmann.
SYNTACS is a versatile and modular system. It can be a stand-alone system or seamlessly integrated into Anschütz integrated navigation and bridge systems. In addition to mine countermeasures missions, other use cases and customer requirements can be met, including missions to secure coastlines and critical offshore infrastructures, sovereign and police tasks, coastal protection or sea rescue.