UK company Submarine Manufacturing and Products (SMP) has secured a second contract for its submarine rescue system (SRS), a deal worth $100 million signed with Indonesia, which will be integrated onboard a host vessel with support from engineering consultancy Houlder and local company BTI Defence.

Using the system, SMP’s SRV-F Mk3 submarine rescue vehicle (SRV) will be launched from a mothership which also has a transfer-under-pressure and diver decompression chamber and delivery is expected to occur within the next few years.

The contract follows a similar deal with Vietnam for a 66-person rescue system about five years ago and SMP managing director Ben Sharples, speaking to Shephard at DSEI, said it was countries in this region with small conventional submarines that were a key market.

‘The SRS is able to rescue up to 50 submariners at once and is optimal for use in regional waters with operators of conventional submarines,’ Sharples said.

‘The market is evolving, and countries operating conventional submarines in regional waters simply do not need complex systems of the massive scale of nuclear navies. The logistical challenges that come with these larger systems take up time which, in an emergency, we just don’t have.’

Sharples also said the system was flexible so for some operations the SRV alone could be towed to an incident without the need for a support vessel.

The company describes it as ‘as a hybrid system which is capable of deployment both by air and on its mothership… the SRV-F Mk3 can react to a wide range of emergency scenarios, covering larger operating areas and minimising rescue times’.

The SRV has an endurance of ≥12h in normal operation under battery power, can achieve a speed under its own power of 3kt, and reach a depth of 500m.