Thales announced the delivery of the world’s first autonomous mine-hunting system to the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy.
This delivery is part of the Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) programme, a joint initiative between France and the United Kingdom launched in late 2010 under the Lancaster House Treaties. The programme aims to enhance naval mine warfare capabilities through autonomous, drone-based systems, thereby reducing risks to personnel and improving operational efficiency. The MMCM programme is managed by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) and has been funded with a combined €430 million.
On 14 March, Thales announced that it had delivered the first 12-metre uncrewed surface vessel (USV), called Ariadne, along with the towed sonar payload, a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), and a remote command centre. The technology is based on the prototype MMCM vessel, RNMB Apollo, which successfully demonstrated the potential for this capability to be deployed flexibly and at pace by the Royal Navy in late 2024.
The Royal Navy Motor Boat Ariadne can be deployed from a harbour or a mother ship to search the seabed for mines using Thales’ Towed Synthetic Aperture Multiviews (TSAM) system. The TSAM system employs synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) techniques to produce high-resolution images of the seabed, facilitating the detection and classification of naval mines.
“This achievement is fundamental to the Royal Navy’s ambition to embrace Maritime Autonomous Systems, as the first Degree 3 autonomous vessel to be delivered into the hands of our sailors, furthering our dedication to removing personnel from the danger of operating within a minefield,” said Jonathan Reed-Beviere, the Royal Navy’s Programme Director of the Mine Hunting Capability.
A Degree 3 autonomous vessel, as defined by the International Maritime Organization, is a ship that is remotely controlled without seafarers on board. In this configuration, the vessel is operated from another location, with no crew present onboard.
Following the successful delivery of the first system, the Royal Navy is scheduled to receive an additional four systems over the course of the year.