The Double Eagle is a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) built by the Swedish defence company Saab Underwater Systems AB and used for the disposal of

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

Design

As of 2009, four versions of the ROV have been designed.Fletcher, ''Worldwide Undersea MCM Vehicle Technologies''Fish & Hollosi, ''Demining the deep'' The original version was named the Sea Eagle, and was a militarised variant of the civilian Sea Owl ROV. This unit was long, wide, and high, could travel at , and dive to . These ROVs saw service with the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

from 1984 onwards. The second version, named the Double Eagle, is larger, measuring in length, in width, and in height. The ROV weighs , can dive to , and travel at .

Current models

The Double Eagle Mark II is larger but lighter than the first Double Eagle. Measuring long, wide, and high, the unit weighs , dives to , and can reach . The Mark II entered service in 1994. The Mark III is longer and heavier than its predecessor. The ROV's payload can consist of scanning sonar, echo locations, doppler logs, or self-navigation systems. All Double Eagles are equipped with an extendable manipulator arm, which is commonly used to place a small explosive charge on a mine. The ROV can be modified to double as a self-propelled

variable depth sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

: the Mark II Double Eagles fitted to the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

's s have been altered to carry a

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

TSM 2022 sonar, while a similar upgrade is to occur to the Mark III units being acquired for the Tripartites of the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

. The Double Eagle Mark II uses two 5

kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

brushless electric motors for main propulsion, and six 0.4 kilowatt brushless electric motors for fine manoeuvering.Clarke, ''Magnetic signature of brushless electric motors'', p. 1 Mark III ROVs have four 7 kilowatt brushless electric motors as main thrusters. Double Eagles can operate in any orientation.

Operators

Mark II

* * ( Standard Flex module)Scott, ''Flexing a snap-to-fit fleet'' * *

Mark III

* * * ''Koster''-class minehunter *

Citations

References

* * * *{{cite journal , last=Scott , first=Richard , date=31 October 2001 , title=Flexing a snap-to-fit fleet , journal=Jane's Defence Weekly , publisher=Jane's Information Group Mine warfare countermeasures Robotic submarines