Euronaval 2026: France charters Protée interim MCM mother ships for SLAM-F

A model of the French Navy's planned Protée (Proteus) MCM support vessel displayed at Euronaval 2026. (Richard Scott/NAVYPIX)

France's Directorate General of Armament (DGA) is chartering two modular multi-purpose support vessels to serve as interim mother ships for the French Navy's next-generation SLAM-F (système de lutte anti-mines du futur) mine countermeasures (MCM) capability .

Announcing the move on 4 November 2026, the Ministry of the Armed Forces said that an industry consortium of Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Les Abeilles International would provide the vessels under an initiative known as Protée (Proteus) to support SLAM-F deployments in home waters. Entering service from 2028, the two 80 m Protée ships will enable the French Navy to gain experience in the operation and support of offboard MCM systems at sea ahead of the introduction of new purpose-built Batiment de Guerre des Mines (BGDM) vessels.

Being procured to replace the French Navy's legacy MCM assets, including the Éridan-class Tripartite minehunters, SLAM-F is a modular ‘system of systems' that makes use of remote offboard systems – both autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) – to enable the detection, classification, localisation, and neutralisation of mine threats from mother ships positioned outside the mine danger zone. Key elements include USVs developed by a Thales-led team under the UK/French Maritime Mine Countermeasures programme (used to deploy the Thales SAMDIS towed synthetic aperture sonar and a Saab remotely operated vehicle for mine inspection/disposal); and the Exail A18-M AUV (equipped with the Thales SAMDIS 600 synthetic aperture sonar).