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The JFD-designed rescue system has been tested during the annual Black Carillon submarine rescue certification exercise.
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JFD Australia’s team of approximately 50 local operators and tradespeople have participated in the Royal Australian Navy’s annual Black Carillon submarine rescue certification exercise from the company’s national headquarters and advanced production facility at Bibra Lake, south of Perth.
The annual exercise involved two support ships and their civilian crew, the RAN’s Commander Submarine Abandonment Escape & Rescue and his team, RAN medical officers and medics, and a number of long-haul trucks and vehicles.
JFD’s submarine rescue system includes a piloted, free-swimming submarine rescue vehicle (a mini submarine), which, after being launched from a supply ship, dives down to locate and ‘mate’ with a disabled submarine.
The system also includes a transfer-under-pressure chamber to transport the rescued crew to the water’s surface, and a hyperbaric equipment suite that provides medical treatment to rescued personnel back on the ship.
The rescue system is built to respond to a distressed submarine anywhere in the world at as little as 12 hours’ notice.
“This is a critical sovereign capability for Australia and is what submarine rescue is all about,” Toff Idrus, managing director, JFD Australia, said.
“Nothing is more important to us than keeping submariners safe, it is our highest priority.”
Earlier this year, JFD secured a $70 million contract extension to supply its submarine rescue system to the Navy until December 2023.
The contract is expected to create at least four full-time defence industry jobs, with the firm also committing to involving more local West Australian industry, particularly in the development of the system’s new hyperbaric treatment chambers.
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