In February, the Royal Navy received its first serial production Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) system—an advanced suite of technologies designed to locate, classify and neutralise naval mines, operated either autonomously or via remote control.
Under the MHC programme, mine warfare capabilities based on the ATLAS Remote Combined Influence Minesweeping System (ARCIMS) were first delivered to the RN as long ago as 2018. USV-based MCM is well established in service but the MMCM system was always intended to be the centrepiece of the RN’s moves toward autonomous mine hunting.
The MMCM programme is led by the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) and under the aegis of the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (OCCAR) with Thales as the lead contractor. A consortium led by Thales Underwater Systems, BAE Systems, ECA (France) and L3Harris, Wood & Douglas and SAAB (UK) was awarded the contract in 2016 for the demonstration and assessment phase. This was completed ahead of schedule and a joint manufacturing contract worth £184M was awarded in November 2020.
In December 2021, the USV RNMB Apollo was delivered to the RN with RNMB Abdiel following in 2022. The (now-disbanded) Maritime Autonomous Systems Trials Team (MASTT) used these vessels for MMCM testing and development. The Marine Nationale (MN) received their USV named Artemis in April 2022. (UPDATE: the new USV is to be named RNMB Ariadne. Following the delivery, RN personnel will undertake a period of training under Thales’ guidance).
Delivery of the first operational systems was due in late 2022, but OCCAR admits to having encountered challenges that delayed the project about a year. The first MMCM System was delivered to the MN in December 2024. By the end of 2025, France will have received 3 complete MCMM systems, each comprising 2 USVs in addition to the prototype system already delivered and updated. The RN will receive 4 MMCM systems this year, each including one USV.
RNMB Apollo has now been handed back to Thales for refurbishment and will be returned later as part of an operational system. Last week L3 Harris launched the last USV for the MMCM contract from their manufacturing facility in Portsmouth, ahead of delivery to Thales for integration work.
Each set comprises 4 main elements.
- A Thales Portable Operation Centre (POC) including the M-Cube mission management system and Mi-MAP software for post-mission analysis. This has exceptional performance and low false alarm rate, particularly due to the use of AI. Up to 3 systems deployed at sea can be controlled from the POC simultaneously. Control is exercised at all times via a secure Man In The Loop (MITL) communications channel.
- Two Thales / L3Harris 12-metre USVs.
- The USV will deploy a Towed Synthetic Aperture Multiviews (T-SAM) vehicle carrying a Synthetic Aperture & Mine Detection Imaging Sonar (SAMDIS), to detect, classify and locate mines. SAMDIS has a low-power requirement and its performance is theoretically equal or better than the much larger sonars used by the Sandown and Hunt class MCMVs, and provides Automatic Target Recognition (ATR).
- The Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS), is used to visually locate and dispose of mines. It can be armed with up to 3 disposal munitions, This is an improvement on the single-shot Sea Fox ROV system currently in service with the RN (can be enhanced with a COBRA head for two shots).
While autonomous MCM has some significant disadvantages compared with capabilities based around crewed minehunters, experimentation with MMCM has been very promising. During a trials serial held in 2023, about 140 dummy mines of different types were successfully located across 4 different scenarios in an area of about 200 km2. The system achieved a probability of mine detection over 99%, providing accurate classification with minimal false alarms. The USV can hunt at between 8-10 knots while conventional mine hunters may typically move at 2 knots when searching.
For the RN, deliveries of the MMCM systems will help recover some of the capabilities lost by the decommissioning of all but one of the Sandown-class MCMVs. Unfortunately, RFA personnel shortages leave the Mine Threat and Exploitation Group (MTXG) without the motherships that the autonomous. systems were intended to operate from. RFA Stirling Castle is laid up in Liverpool and there is no Bay-class auxiliary in Bahrain. For now these assets must be deployed from ashore or commercial vessels of opportunity.
Any idea how many of these USVs we are ultimately ordering? 4 certainly isn’t enough.
They need motherships, in my opinion, they need to be watched over and protected, not just in wartime but in peacetime also.
Would hate to see a Russian Trawler catching one in it’s nets !
To be honest, I’d hate to see an American Trawler catching one now given Trumps alignment with Putin.
Seems promising but they really need watching over.
Given both the RN and MN have opted for this as the future of mine warfare, it’s surprising there’s not been sales to other NATO partners. Surely each nation with a coast is a potential customer of one of the systems.
It sounds like a custom build, as with a frigate programme, rather than something intended for a production-run. Which means both up-front cost (absorbing all the development costs) and ongoing maintenance and upgrades etc, will be more expensive.
So to confirm, the RN is receiving four systems this year, each with 1 USV? Does that include Apollo and Abdiel, or is it an additional four?
Was the type 32 something to do with autonomous systems? 3 more type 31s and 4, 32 would be nice. If that is the case.
Yes. That is the only description so far given for the mythical T32. “A platform for autonomous systems” The T32 name would suggest another Frigate and many here see it as a B2 T31 but so far, nobody actually knows anything… some even suggest it was just a Boris mis speak. Who really knows just what it might be ? or what autonomous system it might embark ?
Yes Jim a batch 2 type 31 with a large ramp at the sturn, as the mission bay is under the flight deck. Would be a good fit. probably no room for a toad array sonar.
You don’t and can’t know that though…. No one does.
What is a Toad ?
Sorry Jim I didn’t notice but being dyslexic doesn’t help. towed. 😁
I don’t know it’s just a assumption.
Personal view only with no inside information informing it.
1 – Use existing T31es built to current contract and specification in the ‘T32’ Drone deployment vessels role. Rather than modifying contracts, cutting holes in existing platforms and adding yet more confusion and delay to new commissioning.
2- Order Miecznik (with a few mods to match RN logistics – 57mm main gun not 76mm, 40mm secondaries not 35mm, Stingray not MU90, either Artisan or NS110 as radar, in my dreams Captas-4-compact as tail) as an actual GP Frigate.
“ either Artisan or NS110 as radar”
Adding ARTISAN would cost lots of ££££ and risk.
Reason NS100 was chosen is that A140 [T31] uses TACTICOS CMS and NS100 is already integrated so it was a fixed cost low risk solution.
There is no good reason why ARTISAN wouldn’t work and given that RN has a pile of ARTISAN sets and thinks they are good enough for T26 then there *might* be merit but the whole point of T31 was to screw costs to the floor and keep them there and as far away from The Good Ideas Club or the Gold Plate Committee as possible !
NS110 cheaper and lower risk. Artisan more commonality with T26s. Seamaster 400 lower risk, higher performance but yet another radar for the fleet and higher cost.
NS110 4D is also significantly better that 3D 997 Artisan.
Isn’t Tacticos itself the odd decision?
We were also told that T32 was a GP frigate in concept.
BW in a rare mis speak did say that T32 might be more T31 but rises back on that when clearly BAE got upset at not getting a look in!
Part of the problem with not having a further option on more units. Was stage to not have options on three more TBH.
“BW” ?
Big Ben Wallace. (Why don’t I ever get called Big Jon? No. Don’t answer that.)
So it’s good news that the RFA strike is over with a pay deal. But it’s awful news that we can’t put key auxillary vessels to sea due to crew shortages. I was hoping to see the remaining mother ships and with the second seabed operations vessel confirmed in the defence review – what is the point if they’re going to be laid up for years? Some sort of retention bonus needs to be brought in.
Hi Craig
I think the only way out of this is better paying and conditions to attract people from the private sector. There’s no point in spending lots of dollars on a ship that you can’t man.
Nige
Very interesting that you and Craig are only talking here about the RFA….and also only you are only talking about operating these new MCM boats from the back of a big mothership (or two) out at sea….
And this all now needs to be organised very quickly
‘ because
Having been watching Sky News over the past few days…. I believe that the most-likley first deployment of these brand new RN – RCMM (Remotely Controlled Model Minesweepers) could well be ordered, by our own PM, within the next few weeks
………out to the front line in Ukraine
Why?
So, all in all, why not just bite the bullet now …..and so why not transfer the whole of this brand new UK MCM operation over to the RN?……
……after all, traditionally, MCM has always been a key RN tasking……worldwide….(see the historical list directly below).
Peter (Irate Taxpayer)
Historical List
The four previous biggest RN MCM operations undertaken since WW2 were:
Note 1
For any civilian land-lubbers reading this post……. the RFA is not to be confused with the RAF (please see next).
Note 2
So…. with the MOD drive (please excuse the pun) deploying autonomus military system of systems – thus taking the human out of the loop – can I ask if these new MCM-USV’s have the capability to now drive themselves to RAF Carterton (i.e. without getting lost on around all of those narrow and twisting Oxfordshire country lanes): then loading themselves onto a RAF transport plane; then to allocate themselves the right seat; and (only then) order their own G&T (no ice, with lemon – not shaken, but stirred) from the RAF plane’s autopilot?
Crew shortages — where is the money going?
If the RFA does not have enough sailors to crew its ships — what is happening to the underspend?
There is an underspend …
yup! If RFA has budget for xthousand sailors, and currently employs xthousand -minus xhundred, then the budgeted wages for all those empty positions must be going somewhere… and it doesn’t appear to be into sailors’ pockets…
Hope they cpme with self destruction in case they fall into enemies hands
Stephen
No!
To self-destruct in an emergency = this RN MCM USV boat will simply aim itself at the nearest hostile mine.
That “final countdown sequence” has already been pre-programmed and hard wired into this uncrewed boat’s Japanese-developed computer software……
Petter (irate Taxpayer)
I have to go to bed now…… sorry, I can’t cope anymore….. see you all in the morning.
I actually lifted USV 2.8 out of the water after testing and onto a trailer for delivery 🙂
Blimey. I was proud of my 180kg 5 rep max for deadlift, sounds like you smashed that.
This is all very commendable and I’m sure in the years to come may actually provide the UK with a meaningful operational capability. Unfortunately, not yet and in the interim UK plc has taken another slice of the “peace dividend”. Namely disposing of a capability that actually works in order to fund something that (fingers crossed) may work at some future date, while taking yet another “capability holiday” to join the many other across defence. When one looks across the UK’s defence in its entirety one can quickly see why the incoming US administration has such contempt for a nation with such threadbare armed forces. Perhaps our pm has decided to shout loudly on the diplomatic stage as he’s unable to “speak softly whilst carrying a big stick”.
Auto launch and recovery progress?