Royal Navy to begin trials of new autonomous minehunting system

A new unmanned surface vehicle (USV) is being tested by the Royal Navy as part of the service’s transition to autonomous systems for the mine countermeasures (MCM) role.

The USV is part of a joint Anglo-French Maritime Mine Counter Measures programme, which has developed separate demonstrators for testing by the UK and French Navies. The UK model was supplied by Thales UK, France’s OCCAR, and Defence Equipment and Support, the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) procurement arm.

The system also includes a towed sonar and a portable operation centre.

The navy said that users of the demonstrator will be able to detect and neutralise mines over great distances, ensuring they can keep vital sea lanes open, with much-reduced risk to ships and the lives of sailors.

The demonstrator will undergo operational evaluation alongside other systems being delivered by the UK-France partnership through a £184 million (US$242 million) investment.