Revealed: Latest Dutch Special Forces Swimmer Delivery Vehicles



Previously unpublished blurry mobile phone photographs of an unusual boat seen on a Dutch lake showed the latest Ortega Mk.1D 4-person Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV). The craft was undergoing manufacturer’s trials prior to delivery to a defense customer. Covert Shores can reveal further details and high-resolution photos.



Photograph rom a passer by



Dutch Swimmer Delivery Vehicles built by Ortega are based on the original World War Two ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (aka Motorised Submersible Canoe – MSC). The Sleeping Beauty was a small single-person boat designed to run for long distances on the surface, only submerging when it approached the target area. Despite the unambiguous influence, the Ortega designs add modern hydrodynamics and the latest technology to create a cutting-edge Special Forces vehicle.



The Ortega Mk.1D has been designed specifically for a Defense customer. This is the maturing of the Ortega formula, with increased utility and improved ruggedness. Operational range is enough to comfortably perform over-the-horizon missions, and the reinforced hull allows it to be dragged up a beach or bottom-out on the sea floor. The design still features the characteristic highly sophisticated navigation and control technology which sets it apart..



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The four-person craft has a high underwater cruising speed and long endurance, in addition to the surface mode. It also has the ability to stow away more than 450 litres of PAX under cargo hatches in the front and back. Its Lithium-Ion batteries that have 5 times the energy density of regular lead-acid batteries. And the closed loop (i.e. no bubbles) trim system is upgraded to handle a variable underwater weight of 60kg. It is powered by two high power rim-drive electrical motors which are reportedly extremely quiet.The open cockpits allow the Special Forces divers to easily enter and exit the vehicle. Ortega have worked on the design of the open cockpits using their own CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulator to calculate the water flow around the heads of the occupants. The small fins on the edge of the cockpits have been refined in such a way that they keep away all water pressure from the occupants, even when traveling at top speed. The aim is to keep the cockpits as open as possible while eliminating major sources of crew fatigue normally associated with this configuration.



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The divers wear Augmented Reality (AR) goggles to enhance situational awareness and reduce workload. Another innovation is that the boat is controlled by a 3D printed underwater Xbox style controller, making it very easy to drive.







Main article: Ortega Mk.1 Swimmer Delivery Vehicle

