UK Royal Navy equips RFA Lyme Bay for unmanned MCM

RFA Lyme Bay on exercise in 2025. (MoD/Crown Copyright)

The UK Royal Navy (RN) is adding unmanned mine countermeasures (MCM) equipment to Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Bay-class vessel Lyme Bay , the service announced on 29 March 2026.

The MCM equipment is designed to “detect, identify and neutralise” mines, the RN said. Lyme Bay will act as an MCM mothership, deploying mine clearance unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) with varying levels of autonomy.

In May 2025 a Saab Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS) completed a first successful firing in an operationally representative environment. The system is being supplied to the navies of France and the UK as part of their joint Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MMCM) minehunting suite.

The RN began taking delivery of four remote so-called “MMCM primary systems” in February 2025 for evaluation and testing.

Each primary system comprises a 12 m unmanned surface vehicle (USV) built by L3Harris; a Thales-developed Towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar Module (TSAM) integrating the Synthetic Aperture Mine Detection Imaging Sonar (SAMDIS) payload; a Saab-supplied Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS) based on a ruggedised remotely operated vehicle (ROV) derived from a solution used in the offshore sector; and a communications suite supplied by Kongsberg Maritime.

The primary system also features a Thales-developed portable operation centre (POC) housed in two containers: one hosts computers, software programmes, and displays; and the other contains an ancillary generator, tools, and spares. The mission management system packaged inside the POC manages mission planning, execution, piloting of assets, analysis of data, evaluation, and reporting. Sonar analysis and exploitation is aided by the Mi-Map software tool.

For more, please see: Update: UK contracts Thales for MCM remote command centres