Autonomous mine hunting system delivered to Royal Navy by Thales
NewsMarch 17, 2025
PLYMOUTH, United Kingdom. Thales delivered the first autonomous mine hunting system to the Royal Navy under the Franco-British Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) program, the company announced in a statement.
The system, developed in collaboration with the Joint Armament Cooperation Organization (OCCAr), consists of an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), an advanced towed sonar system (TSAM) equipped with multivision sonar (SAMDIS), a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), and a lightweight operations center (e-POC), supported by a secure command and control system, the statement reads.
According to Thales, the system is designed to detect and neutralize naval mines while reducing risk to personnel by replacing traditional mine countermeasure operations with cyber-secured autonomous drones and artificial intelligence-driven sonar analysis. The Royal Navy will receive four of these systems throughout the year, the company says.
The system can be deployed from mother ships and coastal bases, where it processes large volumes of sonar data using the Mi-Map application, which accelerates detection and classification of sea floor mines, the statement adds.
