The UK's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) has awarded a £10 million ($13 million) contract to Thales for the delivery of portable autonomous command centres.
The Royal Navy said the agreement supports its transition toward a "hybrid navy" by integrating uncrewed systems into minehunting operations.
The contract includes the design and development of command centres that will coordinate multiple autonomous assets both above and below the water.
The navy noted that the programme has the potential to grow to a total value of £100 million.
At the core of the new centres is a mission management software suite already utilised by various navies for planning and executing mine countermeasure missions.
The centres will also feature planning and evaluation software which employs artificial intelligence for automatic target recognition.
The AI-powered systems are designed to filter raw sensor data, allowing operators to detect and classify underwater threats with increased speed and accuracy.
This technology is supported by the internal AI accelerator of Thales.
Thales will initially deliver two containerised command centres that integrate various platforms and sub-systems.
This flexible infrastructure is intended to improve operational agility while reducing the risk to personnel during hazardous missions.
