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Zulu Squadron

Zulu Squadron consists of two highly skilled Mine Countermeasures units, comprising autonomous mine warfare and engineering specialists. The Squadron is equipped and ready to deploy at short notice around the Clyde Estuary and West Coast of the UK, providing underwater security and assurance to the Continuous At Sea Deterrent. These teams help fully integrate assured increases in capability and workforce capacity whilst concurrently delivering routine and contingent tasking.

Role

Zulu Squadron is a specialist underwater security unit, maintained at high readiness to protect the Continuous At-Sea Deterrent (CASD) and the Fleet. Their mission is to deliver assured underwater security and force protection, operating flexibly from dedicated vessels, temporary staging bases, or by embarking Force Elements into host platforms.

This capability ensures the integrity of strategic assets and freedom of manoeuvre in UK and allied waters, providing a critical layer of defence against underwater threats.

Capability

Zulu Squadron provides underwater security and mine/seabed warfare in UK internal and territorial waters. The Squadron is able to deploy sensors from a variety of unmanned and remotely operated systems.

Key capabilities include:

  • Maritime Mine Counter-Measures (MMCM)
  • Medium Underwater Unmanned Vehicle (MUUV) - SEACAT
  • Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) - IVER3/IVER4
  • Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) - DEFENDER
  • Towed Sidescan Sonar (TSSS)

Crew

Zulu Squadron comprises 64 personnel, divided into Zulu Units 1 and 2 (ZU1 and ZU2), which are led by an Officer-in-Charge (OiC).

ZU2 currently operates MUUV and the small UUV/ROV mission set. The newly formed ZU1 will operate the Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MMCM) system from 2026.

The Units can deploy together, independently, or as smaller Force Elements of 6-10 people to deliver effect.

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