UK receives first MMCM primary system under MHC Block 1

RNMB Ariadne seen at Turnchapel. The MuMNS payload is visible on the vessel's aft deck. (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has formally accepted the first of four autonomous minehunting systems being delivered by Thales under the French/UK Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MMCM) programme.

A handover event for the primary system – comprising a 12 m unmanned surface vehicle (USV), offboard payloads, and a portable operations centre (POC) – was held at the Thales maritime autonomy centre at Turnchapel, Plymouth, on 14 March. The actual delivery – administered by the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) as contract management authority – was signed off on 27 February.

The French/UK MMCM programme was established in 2010 under the bilateral Lancaster House treaty to develop and deliver an integrated, autonomous end-to-end mine-detection, classification, localisation, and neutralisation capability. Thales is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the programme, drawing from both its French and UK businesses; OCCAR has managed the acquisition programme on behalf of the two partner countries.

MMCM constitutes the core component of the UK's Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) Block 1 programme. MHC is an incremental acquisition intended to progressively deliver to the RN a next-generation mine-countermeasures (MCM) capability based on an autonomous ‘system of systems' toolbox.

Each MMCM primary system comprises a 12 m USV built by L3Harris, a SAMDIS towed synthetic aperture sonar payload developed by Thales, and a Saab-supplied Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS) based on a remotely operated vehicle. These in-water assets are complemented by a containerised POC facility, delivered by Thales, hosting mission management and sonar analysis facilities.