JFD Submarine Rescue System Triumphs

JFD has set new global benchmarks for international submarine rescue following the successful completion of rigorous exercises off the coast of Western Australia.

In a range of weather conditions, JFD’s fully-integrated submarine rescue system demonstrated its robustness and reliability in the triennial Pacific Reach, a multi-lateral series of exercises, hosted in 2019 by Australia with the participating nations of South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and the United States and many other observing countries from the Indo-Pacific region.

Designed to simulate a real-life submarine rescue emergency using Collins-class submarine HMAS SHEEAN and South Korean submarine, ROKS Lee Sun-sin, Pacific Reach tested all aspects of JFD’s rescue system which includes a free-swimming, piloted submarine rescue vehicle that is designed to locate and “mate” with a disabled submarine and a hyperbaric equipment suite to provide submariners with life-saving medical treatment once they are back on the water’s surface.

Along with a series of shallow exercises, the system also successfully completed two deep dives of 400 meters, securing annual certification for this critical sovereign capability.

The 26-day deployment also included a mass evacuation exercise conducted over 36 hours.

This involved six separate exercises as 25 Navy personnel rescued 45 submariners with a variety of simulated injuries and conditions and transported them under pressure to the surface for medical treatment in JFD’s world class hyperbaric equipment suite.

Across the four weeks, which relied heavily upon the management and technical skills of JFD’s team of more than 40 engineers, operators and tradespeople, the submarine rescue system also successfully completed:

• 23 submarine rescue vehicle sorties
• 72 hours of dive time
• 75 dives
• 16 dives of the remotely operated vehicle
• 21 hours training
• 16 newly trained and qualified personnel in a variety of positions