From 23 May to 3 June 2023, as a continuation of the CALLIOPE mission in October 2022, the Navy conducted its second seabed control operation.
This mission, which took place in waters under French jurisdiction, off Brest, is part of the ministerial strategy for the control of the seabed and reflects the continuing rise in the development of the National Navy in this area.
As part of the study of an initial deep-sea surveillance capability, the French Navy operated the autonomous underwater drone HUGIN Superior from the metropolitan support and assistance building (BSAM) Garonne to nearly 4500 meters deep.
CALLIOPE 23.1 has made it possible to continue the capacity work, to refine the concept of use of underwater drones and to support the upscaling of the implementation teams.
The French Navy confirms its competence to know and monitor the deep seabed as well as the sensitive underwater infrastructures therein. The BSAM, thanks to its maneuvering and logistical capabilities, is a vector particularly suited to accomplishing this type of mission.
It was during this MFM campaign that the wreck of the 250 horsepower tug Gélinotte was discovered and then identified. Entering active service in 1969, the Gélinotte served in particular during submersible launches in Cherbourg before being designated as a training target in 2003. Its trace had been lost since then. A nod to history to the sailors of the Garonne, this tugboat was built at the Chantiers de la Garonne in Bordeaux.
The Navy will soon conduct a new operation to control the seabed in the Mediterranean.