From 9 to 17 September, the metropolitan support and assistance vessel (BSAM) Rhône was deployed off Arendal, Norway, as part of the NATO DYNAMIC MONARCH 2024 submarine search and rescue exercise.
The objective of the DYNAMIC MONARCH 2024 exercise was the implementation of the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS), a rescue system for submarine crews that is owned equally by France, the United Kingdom and Norway.
The NSRS system is stored in Scotland and is composed of two means, the I-ROV and the Submarine Rescue Vehicle (SRV). The I-ROV is a remotely operated intervention means whose missions are to investigate the stricken submarine, prepare the rescue area and transfer survival equipment to the crew. The Submarine Rescue Vehicle (SRV) is a submarine manned by 2 pilots and an operator whose role is to take charge of up to 15 survivors per rotation.
DYNAMIC MONARCH 2024 is of particular significance as it is the first combined use of the NSRS with the mobilization of the I-ROV and SRV.
The BSAM Rhône embarked the I-ROV while the SRV rescue system and hyperbaric chambers were implemented from the Norwegian patrol boat Barentshav . On the other hand, two Norwegian and Swedish submarines also participated in the maneuver.
During the ten-day exercise, in which Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands participated, the ability of the Rhône to implement the NSRS I-ROV and to be a key link in the submarine rescue chain was confirmed.