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Sydney: The navy has purchased sophisticated Australian minesweeping suites that will qualitatively enhance the protection of its vessels from underwater objects.
Australia's Minister for Defence Science and Personnel Warren Snowdon said in a statement on Tuesday that the sale to India was the single largest overseas order for the Australian Minesweeping System (AMS) since it was first exported in 1992.
AMS mimics the magnetic signals of ships and causes sea mines to detonate prematurely and safely out of the range of target vessels.
The size of the deal was not revealed, except that AMS manufacturer Thales Australia presented Snowdon with a cheque of 514,358 Australian dollars (Dh1.64 million) in royalties for the sale.
"The information on how many pieces of kit were sold is classified by the Indian Navy. The contract was signed in March 2007 and the equipment was supplied recently," said Australian Defence Science Communications Director Jimmy Hafesjee.
The AMS system was deployed operationally during the 2003 Gulf War when it was used by the Royal Navy to clear mines from the port of Umm Qasr in order to deliver humanitarian aid in Iraq.
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