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The undersea defence technology sector is alive and well. It is also very aware of the needs of the operational community in these financially constrained times and ready to apply innovation to meet the associated challenges. These were the core messages to emerge from UDT Europe 2010, the international conference and exhibition, which was staged in the CCH conference centre, Hamburg from 8 – 10 June.
Visitor attendance was 1520, a 20 per cent increase on last year’s event in Cannes. The show also attracted a record number of military flag officers and senior guests who took up Clarion’s invitation to attend. Europe was strongly represented with delegates from France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK and from further afield VIP visitors represented Australia, Brazil, Russia and Thailand.
Conference
In the first keynote address Vice Admiral Axel Schimpf, Chief of Staff, German Navy, said that the world has changed fundamentally, with globalisation potentially having a significant impact on individual nations’ security. He described the sea as ‘the bridge connecting our global world’ and said that the German Navy’s vision for beyond 2025 was ‘Protect and project’.
Rear Admiral Mark Anderson, Commander Operations, Royal Navy, United Kingdom, said that the asymmetric undersea threat is very real and the days of the deep water anti-submarine operations had largely gone. He identified the priorities for these times of constrained defence budgets as ‘really good torpedo decoys’, intelligence gathering with near real-time reporting, and anti-submarine capability.
The need to meet largely unknown future challenges while making every Kroner count was a theme of the presentation by Rear Admiral Andreas Olsson, Director, Naval and Marine Procurement Command FMV, Sweden. He said that an alternative to buying new platforms incorporating all the latest technology was submarines that had significant potential for upgrades over a considerable period of years.
Exhibition
The VIPs toured the exhibition floor where close attention was paid to the products and technologies on display. The exhibitors welcomed the interest displayed by visitors from across the spectrum of the undersea sector.
SAAB Underwater Systems President, Thomas Lindén said, ‘We used UDT Europe to show our new submarine based ROV. We were very pleased with the high quality of the military delegations that visited our stand and with the discussions that we had. We had meetings with important contacts from European countries and beyond. We have already committed to exhibit at UDT 2011 in London’.
Rafael used their first ever UDT to launch their new naval communications suite and to showcase their Protector unmanned boat and the Torbuster torpedo decoy. Eyal Ben Zion, Marketing Director & Business Development, Naval Warfare Systems Directorate, said Rafael was having a very good show and was particularly pleased that most of the visiting military VIPs had viewed the company’s offering.
Rotinor featured their high performance diving scooters, which were launched last September at DSEi. Anthony Simmonds, Sales Manager, said, ‘I am very impressed with the level of visitors we have met and the organisation of the show. Our expectations have been exceeded. The Tuesday evening exhibitor networking event in the hall was very valuable and enjoyable - so many shows want you to leave when the visitors go. We had a great DSEi last year and this has been an excellent follow up’.
Sam West of Atlas Elektronik UK said, ‘UDT has given us an excellent platform from which to tell customers about the exciting developments that have been taking place in our company’.
Matthias Baumert, Manager Fairs & Exhibitions / Advertising, Business Development, Atlas Elektronik, said, ‘The show has been really good for us with many visitors. We have already booked a bigger stand for next year’.
Justin Knowles, Director, Maritime Products, Patriot 3 Maritime, said, ‘Most of the interest has been in our Jetboots hands-free diver propulsion system. This is the first time we have exhibited at a show of this type and there has been more interest than I was expecting. Typically officers from the user community have looked at the system and said “I must bring my commander to see this, it’s what we’ve been looking for”. It’s good to have interest like this from operators as well as distributors’.
UDT Europe 2011
UDT 2011 will be staged at ExCeL London from 7-9 June. Tim Porter, Managing Director of Clarion Defence & Security, said, ‘ExCeL combines a London location with the opportunity to demonstrate marine craft and equipment in the dock that forms part of the exhibition complex. Holding UDT there will provide an exciting new dimension for exhibitors and visitors, enabling us to build on the undoubted success of this year’s event’.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Carol Seath / Nick Johnstone at CMS Strategic
Tel: +44 (0)20 8748 9797 Email: carol.seath@cmsstrategic.com
Note to Editors
Clarion Events Limited is the largest independent and one of the top three events organising companies in the country, running exhibitions, conferences and seated events across Britain, Europe, the Americas, Middle East and Asia. Clarion’s business-to-business and business-to-consumer events serve 15 different market sectors including defence & security, leisure, entertainment, finance, retail, gaming, fine art and energy. Clarion currently employs a staff of 200+ people in four offices: London (Earls Court); Birmingham (NEC); St Charles (MI), USA and Maarsen (The Netherlands).