AHRLAC to Spread Its Wings Across Africa ... and Beyond

Interview with John Craig, CEO of the Paramount Group


While the Paramount Group is preparing for Africa’s leading defence trade show, the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) taking place September 19th – 23th in South Africa, the company is making progress on one of its most prestigious aircraft development projects. Claimed to be Africa’s first indigenously developed and constructed aircraft, the Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft (AHRLAC) can be expected to attract a considerable number of interested looks at the company’s aerospace exhibit.

Nicolas von Kospoth of defpro.com talked to John Craig, CEO of the Paramount Group, about AHRLAC, as well as the company’s role as one of Africa’s largest defence contractors in regional and international defence and security markets.


NvK: First, could you please provide our readers with a brief overview of the Paramount Group?

Craig: The Paramount Group is at this point Africa’s largest private defence contractor and one of the fastest growing defence companies in the world. It was founded in 1994 and focuses on providing a broad spectrum of fully integrated turnkey solutions to global defence, peacekeeping and internal security forces.

Paramount has established itself as a global innovator with the development of one of the world’s most modern and advanced families of armoured combat vehicles, and a revolutionary aircraft, the first aerial platform of its kind. Integrated with the latest technologies in electronic systems, these world-class platforms enable Paramount to deliver a total defence system to its customers. The Group is a leading innovator in the design and development of state-of-the-art products that it manufactures in locations throughout the world. It is partnered with some of the world’s largest and most reputable organisations in the global defence community.

Paramount Group has the unique ability to understand its client requirements and to use its extensive knowledge and experience to design cost-effective, future-proof solutions. As a result, Paramount has enjoyed strong growth and achieved an excellent track record of delivering successful projects.

NvK: How do you assess the achievements of the Paramount Group during the first half of the year and what are your overall aims and prospects for 2012?

Craig: 2012 is proving to be a very good year for us. We obviously don’t measure our results in half years. But, certainly, this year we are growing by almost 30 per cent over the previous year. Thus, it has been a good first half for us; our facilities and our personnel are all very busy on various orders and I think that the second half of the year is equally important for us. We are at the point of hopefully closing some major deals, which you will naturally hear about in due course. But we will have a lot of very important activities in the second half of the year.

NvK: In September 2011, the Paramount Group unveiled the Advanced High-Performance Reconnaissance Light Aircraft (AHRLAC). Could you first please portray this aircraft to our readers?

Craig: AHRLAC is a unique type of aircraft. It is a manned aircraft operated by two persons, a pilot and a systems operator, sitting in a tandem configuration as they would in an attack helicopter. To our knowledge there currently is no other aircraft in this solution space.

AHRLAC offers a number of unique aspects. This includes its unrestricted canopy, purpose-designed to give you all-round visibility for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles. Further it has a turboprop pusher-propeller configuration, offering the crew an unrestricted forward-visibility. So it not a conventional “engine front/propeller front” aircraft that has been pushed into a reconnaissance role for which it was not originally conceived.

NvK: When the aircraft was unveiled, Aerosud’s Managing Director Paul Potgieter called AHRLAC a “revolutionary aircraft”. Which are the main characteristics and capabilities of AHRLAC that make it revolutionary?

Craig: The aircraft was designed with a flexible ISR and light attack configuration in mind. So this is not a commercial light aircraft that in an afterthought has been configured for these roles. That is what gives rise to a unique construction and concept.

A second aspect is that multi-mission capability was part of the initial consideration. It carries a payload pod underneath the fuselage that can be fitted with different mission payloads. This allows the aircraft to be reconfigurable and rapidly adapt to various types of missions. As you can imagine, this has great benefits for the customer’s investment, as one base platform can be adapted to various missions, according to the need and the time.

NvK: Let’s run through the development history of AHRLAC: When was this project conceived and which development stages have since been completed?

Craig: AHRLAC is an opportunity or a gap in the market that we recognised about four or five years ago and leading us to embark on the development of an aircraft. The only aircraft comparable and operating in the sort of sphere might have been the Bronco, an American aircraft that has not been in production for many years.

It required the spark of somebody making the decision that South Africa should develop its own aircraft. Our chairman, Ivor Ichikowitz, loves all things related to aviation and came to realisation that South Africa actually had competence with the development and construction of aircraft. Although South Africa already had a big chunk of this competence, which is shown in the development of the Rooivalk attack helicopter, in service with our Air Force, it is really a first in Africa that an aircraft is conceived and designed from scratch.

Ivor had the idea that it is time for South Africa to step up and not just be a maintenance facility for other companies and for products designed a long time ago. The more exciting part of life is to develop an own intellectual property. This is the only way to grow real competence and great careers.

In terms of milestones achieved, the concept works and the wind tunnel testing is completed. Further, we have accomplished hundreds of missions with a quarter-scale model, which demonstrated the aircraft’s fundamental stability and flight performance.

We are now in the phase of building our first full-scale flying aircraft, which is well advanced. We will be showing key subsystems of the aircraft to selected visitors to the AAD trade show in September and we are hoping to have the first platform assembled towards the end of this year, with the first flight scheduled for the first quarter of 2013.

NvK: Which key industrial partners are involved in this project and to what extent have governmental agencies contributed to the development effort?

Craig: AHRLAC is a private-funded initiative. The Paramount Group is funding the development and commercialisation. Our technical partner is our associate aerospace division, Aerosud. We benefitted from their experience with previous aircraft, such as the AH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter, and their general aerospace competence. Although our technical partner helped us in the development effort, this remains a programme funded as a private venture by the Paramount Group.

Of course, we have a lot of interest and support from the government, in the broader sense, as this is seen as a strategic type of project around which aerospace competence would be developed here in South Africa. But it is important to know that this is not a government-funded project.

NvK: Do you consider AHRLAC as a platform that complements the capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or, rather, as a manned competitor?

Craig: I think AHRLAC is both. There are a number of roles in which it is complementary to UAVs. However, our philosophy is that a man in an aircraft for surveillance roles has got huge advantages over UAVs, which are able only to see and feed back the information of what the camera is looking at in the particular point in time. To our mind, the human being still offers the best all-round surveillance. An aircraft crew can recognise objects of interest at a distance and then zoom in their cameras or sensors for a closer look. Therefore, we believe that a manned aircraft makes a lot of sense in this role.

There are a number of missions which you can naturally only carry out with UAVs and we are not suggesting that UAVs are dead because AHRLAC was conceived. There will always be missions in which it would be extremely dangerous to send a manned aircraft. But a general all-round aircraft, which can be deployed from training through to general surveillance to protecting borders and key installations, as well as having the ability to intervene and deliver an end-effect with weapons? This is a spectrum of capabilities, which we don’t believe can be found with UAVs at this point.

NvK: An often-cited argument in favour of UAVs is lower costs. Considering that AHRLAC is a manned platform, does is still offer the affordability advantages over platforms with comparable capability profiles?

Craig: Of course, otherwise we would not have invested in such a programme. It is important to recognise that UAVs range from very light hand-launched close-range aircraft to massive and incredibly expensive aircraft with high-altitude/long-endurance capability and high payload competence. The latter cost up to a hundred million of dollars per unit and only the richest countries on earth can afford to acquire and operate them. The initial acquisition cost for a UAV is only one part of the equation. You then need operators trained and a vast footprint of support, personnel and equipment to be able to launch, support and recover a UAV.

This is an area where AHRLC is completely differentiated, being designed to be self-sufficient, with a two-man crew operating from unprepared airfields and performing their mission with a minimum of personnel to support them. When you look at mission costs or the entire systems costs, the type of UAVs that you would compare to AHRLAC in terms of mission competence, are vastly more expensive.

NvK: Which particular markets do you target with this product and what market potential do you assess for AHRLAC?

Craig: AHRLAC is not only a product for the developing world. We received a huge amount of interest in this concept from developed-world air forces and security forces. And there are a number of potential customers who are very actively monitoring and tracking the system’s development. I think that global demand will run to thousands, if not tens of thousands, units of the system. But time will tell.

We have plans to set up production facilities in South Africa. But it is important to note that our global aspirations will also see us, in time, set up manufacturing activities in other regions of the world. This will certainly include Asia, where we had a lot of interest in major programmes and from industrial partners wanting to be part of our global manufacturing set-up.

Our projections for the market size say that it could support more than one manufacturing centre abroad. Our plan is not only to create a global manufacturing centre in South Africa, but also to go and seek out partnerships abroad and to establish regional manufacturing and distribution arrangements.*

NvK: I understand that the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) tradeshow in September 2012 will be an important event for the Paramount Group. Which particular trends in the African defence and security market do you perceive and how is the Paramount Group positioning itself at this year’s AAD show to address these trends?

Craig: AAD is for us an important market trade show that reaches most directly the African market, which is our natural expanded home market. This coming edition will see an expanded exhibition from Paramount, representing our largest presence at an exhibition so far. This will include a considerable number of new products from the fields of land systems, aerospace and electronic systems, which we plan to make visible at the show.

Another trend is that the show itself is growing, becoming well-entrenched as the leading show to reach the African market, much as IDEX is for the Middle East. The regional importance of the show is being confirmed and that is also evidenced by an unprecedented amount of international exhibitors – not only from the South African industry but everyone who has an interest in the country’s market in general.

The AAD trade show is an important event where South African companies can show that they are still innovating and coming up with new and relevant technologies for global demand.

NvK: Would you say that the international awareness of the potential of South African defence industry is growing in terms of cooperation and foreign investment?

Craig: Yes, I think so. Wheeled armoured vehicles have long been a figurehead of South African defence industry, going back to even before the Second World War. That is evidenced by the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles of many allied forces, which have seen high-profile use in modern-day conflicts. All of those really have their origin in South African technology.

Nevertheless, there was a period some years back when the industry in South Africa was shrinking, re-examining itself and uncertain as to where it was going. But this year’s AAD exhibition will show that there is a resurgence and growing relevance of South African technology, not just to African but also to global markets.

NvK: The Paramount Group has made the headlines with interesting development and production cooperation projects with countries such as Azerbaijan, Jordan and naturally many African customers. Would you say that the Paramount Group has a special feeling for the needs of emerging markets, as well as countries that are not gifted with voluminous defence budgets?

Craig: The simple answer is “yes”. These are the markets that we have been working in for almost 20 years, since our inception in 1994. We listen to the market demand and are responsive, in terms of the products that we are creating for these markets, but also with respect to our business model, of creating supplier credit finance and funding structures, which allow our developing-world customers to take on large projects and spread the financial burden over several years. We have projects that we fund for developing-world governments up to 15 year terms. That is something we have done in response to market demand, which has helped grow the business and customer demand.

It is not only the appropriateness of the products for the developing world, meaning that they must be robust, flexible and good value for money. It is also a flexible business approach, which helps customers fund the project, as well as actively supporting the transfer of skills, competence and technology, and creating regional partnerships in key markets to manufacture and support products. These are all fundamental elements of our business philosophy, which possibly gives us a better fit to the market requirements than some of the more traditional NATO-based manufacturers.

NvK: African air forces mostly still operate fleets of ageing US, European, Russian and Chinese aircraft. Many of these aircraft are not in an operable condition and budgets will not allow for considerable modernisation or procurement programmes. Will the African military aviation market still be dominated by donations or low-cost sales of surplus aircraft?

Craig: This is an interesting question. You are quite right that there are a lot of legacy fleets dated back to the cold war and largely Soviet-origin aircraft dotted around the continent. More and more of these aircraft are reaching their end of life and it will be very difficult and probably not economically worthwhile to look at doing life-extension programmes. The question is: what after that?

Part of the solution we have found is in supplying and supporting surplus aircraft, such as the South African Air Force Mirage fighter aircraft, which Paramount actively supports. Further, we have a number of customers to whom we have transferred aircraft, providing a fundamental air force capability. But of course, that is only a small part of the market.

From what I can see, the African market is still a key market for lead-in fighter trainers and multi-purpose jets. In a few instances there is demand for super-sonic fighter aircraft –the Chinese are quite active in that respect. However, the new-built super-sonic aircraft market in Africa is not really one that the Paramount Group is going to enter in the short term. There are only very few countries in the region that can justify the acquisition of a top-end type of combat capability.

But this is a market in which an aircraft such as AHRLAC can actually play an important role, considering the real-world requirements, which involve national and border security, as well as securing economic zones.

NvK: How do you assess the potential of closer industrial cooperation with companies from emerging markets to field new solutions for customers in these regions? Or are projects such as AHRLAC emblematic for Paramount’s own efforts to field suitable products for these markets?

Craig: The field is wide open. Both, from the point of view that there is regional demand, as we observed in the case of AHRLAC, as well as due to existing regional competence. India and Brazil have well-established industrial competence in aircraft manufacturing. Further, our business model is such that we would encourage partnerships with competent industrial partners in those regions. There are a number of discussions on the way. So don’t be surprised if in a year or three we have industrial manufacturing centres in various regions.

NvK: To sustain the level of quality and diversity of the Paramount Group’s products and services, the company requires competent specialists from many fields of activity. How is the Paramount Group involved in creating and fostering a workforce that also builds on the potential of South Africa’s and other African countries’ labour market?

Craig: Sustainability for the long run requires the renewal of your product line-up and renewal of your human resources – human capital is the most important one. In our land systems and aerospace fields we established an innovation and training centre, which is separately funded and set-up from our ongoing production activities. That is where we grow and nurture young talents – the next generation of innovators – and create an environment in which they can learn from the more experienced colleagues, but also have the freedom of mind to think outside the box and develop new skills. This is not just about product development, it is also about technologies including production techniques. We are actively supporting and investing a lot of money to make sure that we are sustainable in the long run. We need to attract and grow the right talents to take the company forward.

NvK: What is your assessment of the South African government’s efforts to creating a favourable economic environment for defence companies and encouraging indigenously developed defence solutions?

Craig: I took a while for our new government during what I would call the dawn of the new democratic era to understand the position and the value of the indigenous defence industrial complex and to recognise that defence industry can actually have an important national economic function. However, our government is being very supportive in terms of developing and creating high-value jobs and creating a platform in which intellectual property can be generated in South Africa. This helps South Africa to become an economic centre around which the commercial benefits of value-add of intellectual property may steadily increase.

There are a number of initiatives that our government is pursuing, including through our Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Among them is the creation of aerospace and defence villages, attempting to create a cluster of like-minded business that support each other and yield a critical mass of industrial partners.

So, in general, our government has a realisation of the role that they can play and they are creating and facilitating an enabling environment.

NvK: Finally, what are your personal visions and aims for the course of the Paramount Group in the next years?

Craig: One of the objects that we have set to ourselves is to become a billion-dollar company in the next three or four years, in terms of our sales revenue. I know that size is not everything, but it is certainly a globalised target that we have set ourselves. Even though we are not there yet, we are well on target.

Apart from that, our objective is to remain a company which is fun. Of course we are a serious player, dealing in serious matters of defence and security. But Paramount is a company which is committed to allowing its employees to work in a fun environment and to be free to innovate and think of new ways of doing things. There is a strong desire in the Paramount Group, while continuing to grow, to retain its core cultural values and to be a company that is different and a good place to work.

NvK: Thank you very much, Mr Craig.

(This entry is an interview I originally made for the defence news site defpro.com in August 2012. For a list of all interviews I made, please click here.)

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* Additional information, specifications and resources for Paramount’s AHRLAC can be found on the company’s website at www.paramountgroup.biz/en/ahrlac-rad-aircraft.

REMUS AUVs – “It Comes Down to Reliability and Availability”

Interview with Christopher von Alt, President and CEO of Hydroid, Inc.


When a ship crew slips a small yellow and black painted vessel into the water, it is usually a so-called autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), preparing to go on its mission into the remote and harsh environment of the deep sea. There it silently conducts its pre-programmed tasks and, after hours, surfaces with a large amount of gathered data. While robotics continuously advance into almost all fields of defence and security operations, AUVs have been among the first systems to operate at the highest degree of autonomy, requiring a significant amount of faith by their operators. However, the systems have proven their worth in demanding scenarios, such as mine-countermeasures (MCM) and debris field mapping in the search for aircraft that crashed into the sea.

Nicolas von Kospoth of defpro.com talked to Christopher von Alt*, President and CEO of Hydroid, Inc., about the company’s commitment to providing the necessary reliability and availability to build and sustain this vital trust among the users of Hydroid AUVs. Read the interview published below to learn more about Hydroid’s wide range of activities, its role as a subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime, as well as trends in the AUV market.


NvK: Mr von Alt, could you please give our readers a brief overview of Hydroid, as well as its range of products and services?

Chris von Alt: Hydroid has revolutionised marine and ocean exploration by developing a line of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) called REMUS. They are used to replace the traditional ways of conducting mine-countermeasures (MCM) and hydrographic survey operations by manned surface vessels. We are a leader in the industry and have seen steady growth since 2001 when Hydroid came into being in the commercial market place.

There are currently three primary product lines. First, there is the REMUS 100, which is a man-portable system providing great logistic advantages to its users. Next there is the REMUS 600, a 500-pound vehicle that has been designed to operate to depths of up to 600 meters. It provides greater endurance and capability to support more advanced sensors that require larger apertures. Finally, with the REMUS 6000, we offer an AUV that operates in the deep ocean to 6,000 meters.

NvK: What is the approximate share of defence activities in Hydroid’s overall portfolio?

Chris von Alt: Approximately 60 to 70 per cent of our business is related to defence. However, this can vary from year to year, depending on the order situation. It also quite well reflects the share in the AUV industry as a whole. Although the commercial segment is there, it is not as strong, due to the limited numbers required by civilian operators and the high costs involved.

NvK: In January, Hydroid celebrated its 10th anniversary. How did the AUV market evolve since the company’s early years, and what role has this development played in the merger with Norway-based Kongsberg Maritime?

Chris von Alt: In 2001, there wasn’t much of a commercial marketplace, if you want to define that as one group buying what another one sells. At that time, for the most part, academic groups were developing vehicles and were selling very limited numbers. Prior to that, in the period from 1989 to 2001, I was leading the Oceanographic Systems Lab within the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) where we developed the family of REMUS vehicles and delivered 17 systems, predominantly to academic institutes.

Since 2001, we have witnessed a six-fold increase in the number of systems sold per year. Hydroid has delivered more than 230 AUVs to domestic and international customers since it was founded in 2001, with an annual average of approximately 23 vehicles.

Although the general opinion is that there are many opportunities in robotics, the acquisition of Hydroid by Kongsberg Maritime in 2008 is not directly related to the marketplace of that period. Both Hydroid and Kongsberg Maritime have very customer-centred approaches and share the same values. Hydroid’s record of producing reliable systems with a high availability supports Kongsberg’s commitment to remain a leader in this industry and to provide customers with capabilities they cannot get anywhere else. We felt that the two teams would be stronger together.

NvK: To what extent does this constellation provide synergies to increase your range of solutions and enhance your market approach?

Chris von Alt: As a United States contractor, we operate independently of the Kongsberg Group, under a Special Security Agreement with the Defense Security Services. At the same time, and while acting within the laws of international arms transfers, we work very closely with Kongsberg Maritime. Our commitment is to provide the best AUV systems to all civilian and defence market places. We are well situated and the leading AUV manufacturer in the world market, which made us attractive to Kongsberg Maritime.

REMUS was invented from one perspective, while Kongsberg’s HUGIN AUV was invented from another perspective, both by very talented groups of people. Together we take the best aspects of those two systems and harmonise them to enhance both, offering our customers the best AUVs in the world. Based on our combined resources, we will offer even better products in the future.

NvK: The AUV market is rapidly growing, and industrial capabilities, as well as know-how among competitors, are increasing globally. How is Hydroid positioning itself and its products to meet the challenges of this market?

Chris von Alt: Currently, the Hydroid team consists of 90 people who continuously strive to offer the highest level of product quality, support, and innovation. The only way to ensure this is to hire the best people that you can find. I can’t say enough about the contributions of our employees. They are smart, capable, and efficient, and are highly tuned to the needs of our customers. With the commitment of our team, we ensure the high reliability of our products, as well as the quality of our service.

NvK: Which capabilities do the AUVs of the REMUS family provide to their operators, and which different sensor payloads are being used for these purposes?

Chris von Alt: The REMUS AUVs are typically used by operators from the defence and the gas and oil sectors for mine-countermeasures (MCM), hydrographic surveys, as well as search and survey operations at depths from three metres to 6,000 metres.

The vehicles are typically configured with an advanced GPS-aided inertial navigation system and a Doppler velocity log that can also be supported by long baseline navigation. Among the significant technical advancements that are coming at us in the field of navigation are terrain-relative and single transponder navigation.

The REMUS vehicles are usually equipped with side scan sonar as well as a forward-looking sonar that helps to smooth the vehicle’s flight over rough terrain. The larger vehicles can also be fitted with a multi-depth sonar. Conductivity and temperature sensors, as well as a range of different environmental sensors, further complement the sensor technology that can be installed on REMUS AUVs.

Finally, the vehicles offer a host of capabilities that are embedded in their software, including the very important autonomy capabilities.

NvK: Is Hydroid working together with specialised industrial partners and sub-suppliers to develop the sensor technology, or are these exclusively in-house efforts? What role did academic and other collaborative research efforts play in the development of these systems?

Chris von Alt: Hydroid teams with a number of industrial and academic partners. We recognise that the real strength comes from the benefits of working with other people in the industry and in the research and academic fields. This enables us to come up with solutions that meet our customers’ needs at the best price and as quickly as possible. To accomplish that, we utilize an open system architecture, permitting users to further enhance the capabilities of the systems themselves.

Furthermore, we maintain a very strong link to academic institutions, and many of our customers come from that field. REMUS was originally developed at WHOI with a lot of support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and HUGIN was developed in cooperation with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and Statoil. We truly appreciate working with these people; they have played a strong role in the development of the systems and will continue to do so. Working with observationally-based institutions such as WHOI and FFI, where brilliant, innovative people have experience deploying first-generation systems at sea, enables us to stay in the forefront.

NvK: The multi-national military operation in Libya has clearly revealed the requirement of modern navies to operate in unknown littoral waters and even to counter attempts to mine ports and sea lanes, such as observed in Misrata. How do you assess the importance and the need for AUVs in today’s military operations, and in what way do the solutions offered by Hydroid meet these requirements?

Chris von Alt: When you are working in the defence industry, it just comes down to the reliability and availability of the systems you produce; if you have a system that works, then they will use it. AUVs are very important for navies because they gather information while keeping troops out of harm’s way, in particular in mine-countermeasure operations.

We have proven with many of our naval customers throughout the world that the systems we produce are reliable. There is growing momentum in the understanding that Hydroid’s AUV solutions will perform successfully in the field and that operators can count on them to obtain the required information and bring it back in a timely manner to support decision-making. That is what makes our systems so important. Therefore, our focus remains on offering this level of reliability and availability.

NvK: In 2011, Hydroid announced that it passed Critical Design Review (CDR) to provide Littoral Battlespace Sensing (LBS) AUVs and associated technologies to the US Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). What is the current status, and what is the future schedule for this prestigious programme?

Chris von Alt: We recently completed the test readiness review and are now in the midst of developmental testing and evaluation (DT&E), after having delivered the first prototype system. Milestone C for the programme is planned for April/May 2012. We are on schedule and on budget and are demonstrating that the systems meet or exceed all key performance parameters.

What makes this programme a little bit different from others is that it is a US Navy programme of record, rather than a User Operational Evaluation System (UOES) programme. UOES programmes offer a much closer working relationship in development with the Fleet, allowing us to gain more experience about how they would use the system and shape specifications. It has been a very powerful way of developing and integrating this new technology, and we have been lucky to have been part of many programmes of that nature. Both types of programmes have their advantages.

NvK: Hydroid recently delivered a REMUS 6000 for WHOI, which will use it in close cooperation with the U.S. Navy. Could you please describe the deep ocean capabilities of the REMUS 6000?

Chris von Alt: Eight REMUS 6000 systems have been delivered so far, including one to the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, where it is used extensively for deep ocean research.

Another quite prominent example of the use of these systems was the Air France Flight 447 recovery operation in the Atlantic Ocean. The search for the wreckage of the aircraft was conducted by WHOI, using three REMUS 6000 AUVs operating simultaneously off of one ship at depths of more than 3,500 metres. The systems helped to locate the wreckage in quite mountainous undersea terrain and documented the debris field, so that a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) could carry out the recovery work.

The combined use of these three vehicles made a dramatic difference, enabling a very small team to benefit from a manifold level of effectiveness that a traditional single surface vessel could not have offered.

The example of the search for the wreckage of Flight 447 has shown that future AUV operations will involve multiple vehicles, working together autonomously, with limited groups of people, greatly increasing their ability to gather information in the ocean. You can transition that example, and the larger statement that is reflected by the systems’ performance, into MCM operations of the future.

NvK: Taking a look at the bigger picture in the market: Are the sale numbers of AUVs being affected by ongoing defence budget issues, or would you rather say that AUVs brave the general trends?

Chris von Alt: There are many ways of looking at the current development in budget discussions. Certainly, there are budget constraints throughout the world, and we are watching closely to see how this plays out.

There is a growing faith in the reliability and capabilities of AUVs, and navies are increasingly investing in these systems. They offer a more cost-effective way to conduct mine-countermeasure operations and harbour-defence support functions than the traditional approaches, such as re-outfitting an MCM vessel with a new sonar system. Despite a certain downturn in budgetary numbers, opportunities are increasing for the use of these systems. The austerity budgets may, indeed, push some countries to consider moving more in this cost-effective direction.

Nevertheless, it remains a matter of faith for operators to put an expensive piece of equipment into the water and let it go, expecting it to come back with the required information. It takes a long time to earn this level of trust. In contrast to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are in constant communication with the operator on the ground, an AUV carries out its mission in a fully autonomous way. After it has been programmed, you may, perhaps, follow its trajectory, but you do not normally actively control it while it is doing its work. On the other hand, the advantage of this mode of operation is that you can send the vehicles on their missions while being free to do something else, without the necessity of constant supervision.

Making the leap, in the sense of having an asset of this importance doing a mission by itself and trusting that it can be done successfully, is still a realisation that is emerging among many potential users. The people who use the AUVs see the advantages, but they also have to go back into the budget conferences and convince the decision-makers to allocate money to those areas.

NvK: Due to the quite specialised capabilities of AUVs, do you perceive a possible trend of outsourcing such capabilities to specialised institutions or companies?

Chris von Alt: REMUS was originally designed to be operated by somebody with a high school education and only five days of training. It does not necessarily take a great deal of specialised skills to use these systems. However, being creative with them and running them in bizarre and tough environments, while exploiting their full capabilities, will require more know-how and experience. To date, we haven’t seen a trend of outsourcing AUV capabilities. The naval users want to have these capabilities among their assets.

NvK: How does Hydroid specifically support its military customers with integrating the systems into their units and adequately training the operators?

Chris von Alt: Typically, what has been very effective in the past is to integrate future users into the factory acceptance testing.

When these systems were first introduced to navies, we tried to build up the knowledge and understanding of how the system works and to create confidence in its capabilities among future users. We would work with a customer team during the acceptance period and teach them early-on how to work with the system. This would also include time in a classroom, acquiring the basic understanding of programming a vehicle, as well as practical operations at sea.

Mission planning and mission analysis are the most important aspects of training, including learning to understand and interpret the sonar. We offer courses that can be provided specifically to the user in accordance with their individual specifications, generic courses that are attended by a maximum of five people, as well as open enrolment classes using a virtual environment for the entire range of products, configured with different sensors. This allows the student to programme the vehicle, watch how the mission is being executed and then download and analyse the data in a simulated environment.

NvK: As our last question, we would like to ask what your personal visions and aims are for the future of Hydroid.

Chris von Alt: AUVs operate in the harshest environments on earth, they are unmanned, and they are expensive. It’s akin to sending a pre-programmed, unmanned probe into outer space, except that there is not the same budget for AUVs. Therefore, in our industry, reliability is the key factor. Our vision is to make the systems that we produce more and more reliable. That is what we have demonstrated in the past, and we are seeing a greater and wider acceptance for these systems as a result of these efforts.

NvK: Thank you very much, Mr von Alt.

(This entry is an interview I originally made for the defence news site defpro.com in March 2012. For a list of all interviews I made, please click here.)


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* Christopher J. von Alt received his B. E. in Electrical Science from the University of NY at Stony Brook in 1978 and an M.S. in Ocean Engineering from the MIT in 1984. He has worked in the underwater marine construction industry as well as holding research appointments at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). He has sat on or chaired numerous technical symposia and was the 1997 recipient of the WHOI Technical Staff Award. He has led many at-sea operations and pioneered the use of AUVs in the fields of mine countermeasures and Deep Sea Survey operations. Mr von Alt has also written numerous publications. In September 2011, Mr von Alt received the Distinguished Technical Achievement Award of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society for his leadership in the development and use of AUVs. Mr von Alt is currently President and CEO of Hydroid, Inc.

Don’t Manage the Piracy Problem, Solve It

Interview with H.E. James Michel, President of the Republic of Seychelles


Only a few countries are exposed, to a similar extent, to the effects of Somali piracy as is the Republic of Seychelles. Located at the southern edge of the pirates’ main area of operation in the Indian Ocean, and dependent upon safe sea lanes, the island country finds itself in the front line of a difficult struggle against the criminal fruit of a destabilised and war-ravaged neighbourhood at the Horn of Africa.

Nicolas von Kospoth of defpro.com asked His Excellency James Michel, President of the Republic of Seychelles, to portray the country’s considerable efforts to ward off this threat and to promote the Seychelles as an anti-piracy hub for its international allies. Read below the President’s statements on economic, social and political effects of piracy on the Seychelles and his hope for a more determined and effective approach to solve the problem by the international community.


NvK: Even as we make this interview, many captured commercial vessels remain anchored in the ports of Somali pirates and scores of captives desperately hope to be released. Mr. President, how do you assess the current development of the Somali piracy issue?

James Michel: Piracy has developed into a lucrative business model and therefore more emphasis needs to be made to target the financiers of piracy, to eliminate the criminal networks and bring to justice the main profiteers of this business.

We can fill our prisons to the brim with the Somali pirates who are at sea, but they are not the instigators, they are not earning even a drop of the vast amounts of money from the ransoms, so our efforts to capture them will not be efficient, in the overall picture, if we do not capture those who profit the most from this criminal activity.

We are in the process of setting up a Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecution and Intelligence Centre, with the support of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the UK and its Serious Organised Crime Agency, that will coordinate the tracking of financial transactions and enforcement operations. This will, in turn, assist law enforcement agencies to build cases needed to issue international arrest warrants and prosecute the financiers of piracy.

Piracy is rooted in the instability in Somalia, and that is why I have appealed to world leaders to consider taking more action in Somalia itself, in order to implement a comprehensive approach to the instability there. This is summarised in these key areas:

1) Increased commitment and support to peacekeeping forces within Somalia, particular to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces operating in Mogadishu, as well as a maritime presence for the mission that will enable the patrolling of the coast;
2) Targeted interventions against all criminal and terrorist groups to displace hubs of criminal activities;
3) Reinforcing and strengthening existing areas of stability within Somalia, with the establishment of rule of law in these areas and creation of economic opportunities as a key part of the effort;
4) Strengthening the capacity of coastal states to better defend the maritime zones, allowing for improved patrolling and surveillance capabilities;
5) And the improvement of intelligence sharing networks that will allow for a more efficient and systematic approach in targeting all angles of the criminal network, with particular attention to the financiers of piracy.

NvK: Due to their geographic location, the Seychelles are an important ally to those countries who are engaged in the fight against piracy off the Horn of Africa. Further, the country is itself affected by this unfortunate phenomenon. How would you describe the Government’s role in this complex situation?

James Michel: Seychelles has taken a lead in the region to highlight the scourge of piracy and has been seeking the assistance of the international community, since it is apparent that piracy is a global issue and not just a regional one.

We are committed to coordinating international efforts and seek greater participation by all countries in terms of assets, resources and to highlight the adverse effects for small island states such as Seychelles. We have also been at the forefront of prosecuting pirates by framing new anti-piracy laws and formulating partnerships with Somali authorities for the transfer of convicted pirates. We have taken these initiatives despite the tremendous strain on our limited resources.

For this reason, I have placed an emphasis on Seychelles becoming the anti-piracy hub for our international allies, who are committed to the fight against piracy. It is important to note that the anti-piracy action off the Horn of Somalia, as well as the wider Indian Ocean, has been the largest and first international operation of its kind, where the navies of the major world’s powers – the US, Russia, China, India, and EU nations – are all working together to combat this security threat.

NvK: How are the Seychelles security and defence forces positioned for the fight against piracy, and to what extent does the country rely on international co-operation to enhance current and future capabilities in this regard?

James Michel: Our concern for sovereignty is vital and that is why we are committed to protecting our maritime territory, as well as our fishermen, by all available means.

The Seychelles Coast Guard has been continuously deploying its ships and boats for surveillance, along with regular patrols being undertaken by the Twin Otter from the SPDF Air wing. Since February 2011 we have also had an Indian Dornier aircraft based at Mahé for assistance in surveillance efforts.

At the beginning of 2011 the United Arab Emirates donated two patrol boats and three fast boats to the Seychelles Coast Guard to add to its fleet of two patrol ships, the Topaz and the Andromache, which were donated by the Government of India some years ago. The UAE also donated and constructed a new Seychelles Coast Guard base last year. In 2011, the Government of China also donated two Y-12 aircraft for surveillance missions. The EUNAVFOR has also assisted us with their own aerial surveillance mission, with a Luxembourg maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as the French E-3F aircraft based in Seychelles. Further, the US Air Force has unmanned aerial vehicles stationed in Seychelles for anti-piracy surveillance missions.

But considering the size of our Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.3 million square kilometres, these are still not enough. We need more assets for aerial surveillance missions, as well as maritime patrols, and we are seeking greater assistance from the international community in this regard.

We have already shown the effectiveness of our Coast Guard, which has undertaken three successful rescue operations at sea where Seychellois and other national hostages were liberated from their captors and the pirates responsible were arrested and prosecuted (involving the following pirated vessels: Faith, Galate and Gloria).

We have also established a national security support system for Seychelles-based vessels, whereby armed protection teams are deployed. But some types of vessels are very hard to defend because of their small size. This is why we must continue to try and target the root causes of the problem: the instability in Somalia and the criminal financiers of piracy. We must solve the problem and not just manage it.

NvK: Estimates of the annual costs of piracy to the international community range from $7 to $12 billion. Could you please outline to our readers exactly how the Seychelles are being affected by piracy in terms of financial, political and social effects?

James Michel: Seychelles, being a small maritime state, has been adversely affected by piracy. Piracy is costing Seychelles an average of 4 per cent of its GDP* every year, which includes direct and indirect costs as well as losses in shipping, fishing, tourism and increased spending on maritime security.

Particularly hard hit are the local fisheries, where between 2008 and 2010 there was a drop of 46 per cent in local fishing, which is, coincidentally, also the equivalent of the rise in the price of fish on the local market during the same period. Our local fishermen, whose livelihood depends on the sea, have been the victims of piracy on several occasions and some have been taken hostage to Somalia and suffered terribly. Presently, two of our brothers, fishermen in their sixties, are being held hostage in Somalia. Since we are a very close-knit community with a small population, these events have been very traumatic, and many families and their friends have suffered.

Tourism has not been impacted overall in terms of visitor arrivals. Indeed, we had two record years consecutively, but the yachting tourism has seen a sharp drop, as yachts are not allowed to sail far from the main islands.

Also affected are local consumer prices for imported goods, which have increased due to the high costs of imports (and insurance premiums as well as risk factors), thereby affecting the Seychelles economy and cost of living.

We are a maritime nation – the sea-lanes are the highways that connect us to the world. Piracy increases our sense of isolation.

NvK: You have repeatedly raised the issue of piracy in different multi-national forums, for instance during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in October 2011. What impression do you have of the international community’s willingness to take action against piracy?

James Michel: I was encouraged at the CHOGM in Perth by the willingness of Commonwealth leaders to address the issue of piracy, but in practice it is clear that the efforts of the international community are not adequate. Piracy is still rampant, despite the presence of ships and aircraft operating under EUNAVFOR, CMF, NATO and other independent navies.

Rules of engagement established by different forces are too often limited and do not allow robust responses. Regretfully, once hostages are taken, too many companies and governments are perpetuating piracy as a business transaction.

We need to tackle the root of the problem in Somalia more directly, as well as those financing this criminal activity.

NvK: Would you say that the political and legal framework within which multi-national fleets, such as EUNAVFOR or the Combined Task Force 151, are currently operating provides sufficient hold and flexibility to effectively tackle piracy?

James Michel: Considerable efforts have been put in by the multinational forces, and while there have been improvements in the coordination and effectiveness of multi-national operations, the results have not been commensurate. We are still at the management stage of the problem, and not at the stage of solutions.

We need to have a standard political and legal framework to combat piracy, as well as prosecute and convict pirates expeditiously in order to demonstrate an active deterrence to this menace.

While many potential attacks by pirates have been thwarted by the forces deployed, there have been numerous cases of pirates being set free because of a lack of evidence or non-acceptance by any country to prosecute them. This clearly permits them to return for another attack.

We need to, therefore, adopt new strategies and policies in dealing with piracy in order to always be one step ahead of them.

NvK: In mid-November, a German frigate captured a pirate mother ship with 19 pirates. As no country was willing to take charge of the criminal prosecution, the naval vessel brought the pirates back to Somalia where they are now free to launch new attacks. How can the international community overcome its current incapacity to address the problem?

James Michel: There needs to be consensus by the international community on the global nature of the problems of piracy and the need to share the burden of prosecution and conviction. As we have seen, the range of operations of the pirates has steadily increased over the last few years and it is imperative that all countries contribute their resources. Much more needs to be done by the international community regarding sharing the burden of prosecution.

Seychelles is one country that has successfully prosecuted pirates- but we are a small country that can only do so much. Already over 12 per cent of our prison population is made up of Somali pirates.

We commend those countries that have also proceeded with prosecutions. We also look forward to having fully functioning and internationally monitored prisons within Somalia so that we may transfer convicted pirates to serve their sentences there.

NvK: There are increasing numbers of reports about ship crews or hired security teams fighting back attempts to board their ship. This indicates a growing intensity of violence on both sides. How do you assess this trend and will it be possible to counter piracy without escalating the spiral of violence?

James Michel: As you are aware, no ship with an armed security team onboard has been pirated to date. While the safety of the crew is paramount, the growing menace of piracy has forced ship owners to adopt other means of protection at the risk of escalating violence.

We must remember that to take a ship hostage is an act of violence, and that these pirates are brandishing sophisticated weapons that are aimed to kill.

The response to these attacks, therefore, needs to be met with force as the pirates are not interested in dialogue. Failure to act with force results in months of imprisonment in poor conditions in Somalia.


NvK: You have warned in the past of the connections between piracy and terrorism in Somalia. Could you please elaborate on your views of this calamitous relation and the trends that you observed during recent years?

James Michel: Somalia has several paramilitary groups, and many agencies operating in Somalia have reported that payments are made to these groups by pirates – either as a form of tax or as part of an organised relationship. Some of these groups use terrorist tactics and have conducted attacks in Uganda and in Somalia, itself.

Various experts, on numerous occasions, have linked piracy to radical Islamist groups in Somalia. Furthermore, we have seen the growing level of violence adopted by the pirates, including the abuse of hostages. The kidnapping and killing of tourists in the Lamu resort of Kenya has been a worrying new phenomenon regarding the situation in Somalia. Thus, there is a very thin line between piracy and terrorism today.

It is therefore very important that all regional and international stakeholders cooperate closely to try stopping this from spreading, as both piracy and terrorism have no borders.

NvK: In this context, how do you assess the Kenyan military offensive and its effects on the region?

James Michel: The hijacking and killing of tourists in a resort in Kenya is totally unacceptable and a heinous and needless crime. The perpetrators need to be brought to justice. It is every country’s right to protect its sovereignty and citizens.

NvK: During the visit by Chinese Minister for National Defence and State councillor General Liang Guanglie in December 2011, you signed an agreement with China to develop closer cooperation in the fight against piracy. Could you please outline the exact aims of this agreement and what is your assessment of the Seychelles’ partnership with China?

James Michel: We have simply renewed our military cooperation with China. The aim of this agreement, which dates to 2004, is to increase military cooperation and boost the Seychelles’ capacities to fight the threat of piracy. We will receive training, equipment and exchange visits from China and will work towards improving our military relations.

We have also invited the Chinese navy to make more frequent port calls for rest and recuperation, and to increase their maritime surveillance in our economic area. Seychelles and China have a special relationship built on mutual respect and cooperation, which has brought about significant developmental gains.

NvK: Thank you very much, President Michel.

(This entry is an interview that I originally made for the defence news site defpro.com in January 2012. For a list of all interviews I made, please click here.)

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* The 2010 GDP of the Republic of Seychelles is estimated at USD 2.053 billion (PPP) / USD 0.919 billion (nominal).