MINDEN, Germany --- The German/British Pioneer Bridge Battalion 130 from Minden is known for its Amphibious M3 floating rapid bridge, with which it is the only unit in the army to be so equipped. Now the Minden pioneers have received additional new technology that allows them to prepare and then create water crossings even more quickly. With the Sonobot 5 overwater drone, pioneers can explore waters effectively and precisely.
With the Sonobot 5, the soldiers from Minden are receiving a drone for the first time, which is one of the fastest floating unmanned sonar systems in the world. It is used for survey and search operations in lakes, canals and many other conceivable scenarios. The pioneers use this technology to measure military-planned crossing points and check their suitability. With the drone, the pioneers are able to detect objects hidden under water such as scrap, mines, shoals or large obstacles in shipping channels and locate them precisely.
Precise, flexible, versatile and military robust
The Sonobot 5 is a system platform that was specifically designed to meet the needs of hydrographic surveying in inland waters. In classic water surveying, so-called bathymetry, the earth's surface, including the natural and artificial objects that are firmly connected to it, is measured and described in detail. The Sonobot 5 can do that. And it can use the side-view sonar to display the bottom of the water clearly and with great precision. This provides the pioneers with a very light, remote-controlled and modular measuring system. Depending on the task, the pioneers adapt their Sonobot.
“The acquisition of the Sonobot 5 means one thing above all for us as Minden pioneers: we are now able to explore and measure water crossings digitally, quickly and under the protection of cover.
“On top of that, the exploration results can be made available to the responsible military leaders in real time,” explained Lieutenant Colonel Florian Loges, commander of the German/British Engineer Bridge Battalion 130.
So far, the soldiers have carried out the survey of a body of water using an inflatable boat and the water depth recording device (WaTAG). The WaTAG was attached to the dinghy body and recorded the river profile using an echo sounder. The recorded water profile was then printed out. Such an expression could be used to identify the depth of the water as well as shallows or obstacles in the water.
Based on these exploration results, the pioneers decided whether they should set up a crossing point at this point and what means they would have to use to do so.
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