The naval arsenal mobilises

On board the floating units, the servicemen and women are to carry out more repairs themselves again. They receive support from the naval arsenal.

In this day and age, one may well ask what the headline is supposed to mean. Is the naval arsenal calling in reservists for support? Has it recently started using its own boats in order to be more mobile? To answer these questions, a short preface is necessary.

The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Eberhard Zorn, has commissioned the Navy to take the lead in addressing the issue of immediate repairs in order to increase operational readiness. Until January 2021, cooperation with the Naval Arsenal (MArs) was intensified in a pilot project at the Rostock-Warnemünde site and has since been stabilised due to its proven success (see also marineforum 1/2-2022). At the Hohe Düne base, minor maintenance work can once again be carried out by employees of the Naval Arsenal without delay and no longer has to be outsourced to commercial companies, which is a time-consuming administrative process. The enormous advantage of the Marine MArs Maintenance Channel (M3C, see marineforum 6-2021), a system for remote support, was also brought into focus. The M3C is to be installed on almost every unit in the fleet in future.

In a third pillar of the Rostock pilot, it was planned to train shipboard personnel and employees of the system support group in the workshops of the naval arsenal through targeted short briefings. This will give the navy more autonomy for repairs during operations and relieve the naval arsenal of orders from the fleet.

Supported by the Operational Flotilla 2, which has made its massive needs clear, employees of the Naval Arsenal have developed a joint solution.
Because "every child needs a name", a joint project was launched under the working title Professionalisation of Technical Personnel (ProTeP). Arsenal Operations identified the practical possibilities for targeted training modules with the workshop areas of navigation, radar and weapons, and Operational Flotilla 2 reported the exact requirements in terms of type, depth of instruction and duration on the basis of profiles created at short notice. In addition, past missions and the repairs that had occurred during them were analysed together and incorporated into a rough concept. A few weeks later, the first training module was launched and the experiences were implemented in an iterative process using the modified profiles.

As expected, further questions arose that needed to be answered. What are the needs of Operational Flotilla 1 with its boats and system support groups? How should the Naval Command and the Naval Support Command be involved and what can they possibly contribute? And how can we actually map the briefing activities carried out by the workshops in the SASPF administrative system?

To cut a long story short: Almost all questions were answered in several rounds of discussions. In a very productive three-way constellation, ProTeP was also provided with a concept under the name Extended Equipment Familiarisation, which is distinct from the training and further education area and enables Arsenal Operations to offer this support service on a permanent basis.

Seven shipboard commandos have so far been instructed in a total of 38 training modules held in the workshops of the Naval Arsenal. Nevertheless, it is also an integral part of the concept to integrate particularly frequently requested profiles thematically into the regular and modular training at the naval schools in the medium to long term.

However, this alone does not answer the question of the extent to which the naval arsenal is now mobilising. Here are two examples: In past deployments of the task force providers, the same defects always occurred - albeit only occasionally - in the Variant helicopter guidance radar required for the safe landing of the shipboard helicopters. Whereas previously two technicians from the Naval Arsenal had to fly to the area of operation to replace components, the shipboard command was now able to carry out the repairs independently and without outside help following the extended equipment briefing. Ideally, the replacement part should even be carried on board.

Another example of a maintenance priority identified across the entire fleet is the replacement of the digital selective calling controller (DSC controller). This "digital selective call" is an important element in the global emergency call system and therefore a crucial component for safe participation in maritime transport. The replacement and subsequent initial commissioning of the DSC controller on board is ultimately not a major challenge once this work has been learnt in the form of an extended device briefing. Not having to wait for a technician to arrive in distant sea areas can be a decisive time advantage. If questions still arise despite prior instruction, a tip from a technician you now know personally via the M3C's video connection is usually sufficient.

Both situations illustrate the enormous advantage of this cooperation. Although Arsenal Operations invests in the working time for briefing the shipboard commandos, it is relieved of the travelling time to the deployment area. This means that more time is available for scheduled repairs in the workshops and at the home bases, which in turn benefits the operational readiness of the navy. The navy will experience a (re)professionalisation of its technical personnel while at the same time reducing downtime in the theatre of operations. Even if the repair by the shipboard personnel is not successful, it contributes significantly to limiting the damage, apart from the increased self-confidence and self-assurance of the technicians on board. In this way, the naval arsenal can then deploy personnel and material in a much more targeted manner.

Further expansion stages could follow. Why shouldn't an artillery boatman whose ship is going to the shipyard spend a few months in the gun workshop to help repair "his" turret himself and refresh his knowledge of light naval artillery? Does it even make sense to carry out selected training modules at the Parow naval technology school with its instructors on site in the workshops in Wilhelmshaven?
There is already a striking example of this: the Navy's repairer/operator training for SHF Satcom has been successfully carried out for many years in cooperation with the Parow Naval Technology School and the Bremerhaven Naval Operations School at the Naval Arsenal's Satellite Test and Training Centre.
With regard to the core elements of the Naval Arsenal's mission statement, it should be noted: The Naval Arsenal mobilises - together, transparently and reliably!

Captain Karsten Knecht is part of the management of the Naval Arsenal. Chief Technical Director Andreas Vogt is Head of Workshops at the Naval Arsenal.

Karsten Knecht and Andreas Vogt