Autonomous mine countermeasure drone system delivered to French Navy by Thales
NewsFebruary 11, 2025
PARIS, France. Thales delivered the first serial production autonomous drone system for mine countermeasures to the French Navy under the Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) program, the company announced in a statement.
The system includes an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) equipped with the TSAM towed sonar for detecting and classifying naval mines, the statement reads. It can be operated remotely from land, a mother ship, or other vessels, reducing sailor exposure to hazardous environments, Thales says.
Designed for rapid deployment, the 12-meter surface drone is air transportable and can be loaded onto an A400M aircraft for deployment within 48 hours, according to the company. France will receive six USVs in 2025, consisting of three system-of-systems configurations, each with two USVs, in addition to an earlier prototype that has been updated, the statement adds. The British Royal Navy is also set to receive four system-of-systems, each with a single USV.
Thales is the primary systems provider and integrator for the MMCM program, incorporating technologies such as the SAMDIS multi-view sonar, e-POC portable operations center, M-Cube mission management system, and Mi-Map data analysis application, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to improve detection accuracy, the company states.
