Singapore awards contract for unmanned MCM systems to Thales

The Pathmaster MCM system, as depicted in this photo, provided by Thales in its media statement. ST Engineering has placed an order for the system, which will be operated by the Republic of Singapore Navy. (Thales)

Singapore has inked a contract with Thales for the Pathmaster mine-countermeasures (MCM) system, the company said in a 19 May statement.

A contract for the unmanned platform-based system was awarded via Singapore's defence prime ST Engineering.

Under the contract, Thales will supply a suite of MCM components under the Pathmaster ambit, and this includes the M-Cube mission management system, towed synthetic aperture sonars, and the MiMap sonar data analysis software.

These components will be integrated onto an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) that will be supplied by ST Engineering, said Thales in its statement.

In addition to these components, Thales will also provide the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) with software systems to manage its databases of mines. These systems will be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven algorithms to improve target detection and identification.

“The Thales Pathmaster solution is the world's first sea-proven system and is currently already in service with the British Royal Navy and the French Navy under the maritime mine-countermeasures (MMCM) programme. This contract is the first Pathmaster contract for Thales in Asia,” said the company in its statement.

Neither Thales nor the RSN has given further details on the USV that the Pathmaster system will be deployed from.

However, ST Engineering announced on 7 May that it has received contracts to supply the RSN with a suite of MCM unmanned systems.

The suite will comprise a fleet of USVs, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and a command-and-control (C2) centre.

Similarly, no details on these systems were provided.