ECA and Mauric unveil mothership design for mine-hunting unmanned vehicles

Unmanned systems developer ECA and naval architecture firm Mauric recently unveiled a proposed series of motherships for mine warfare-optimised unmanned systems.

The ships will be similar in size and layout to the offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) in service with many navies but will be specifically adapted for mine clearance missions at sea using drones and robotic systems.

Utilising a variation of one of Mauric's OPV designs, the vessels will be capable of launching and recovering unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).

The vessels will be available in 30-metre and 50-metre variants.