
The recent trial saw RNMB Apollo being launched and recovered from SD Northern River . (Defence Equipment & Support)
The UK and France have achieved major programme milestones for the autonomous mine-hunting capability being acquired by both countries under the Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MMCM) programme.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 10 December 2024 that the prototype MMCM unmanned surface vessel (USV) RNMB Apollo had been successfully deployed and trialled for the first time from a commercial “vessel of opportunity”. The Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) – the European agency that has managed the acquisition programme on behalf of the two partner countries – revealed nine days later that France had taken delivery of the first production-standard MMCM system.
The MMCM programme aims to deliver an “autonomous end-to-end” mine detection, classification, localisation, and neutralisation capability to both the French Navy and the UK Royal Navy (RN). The primary system, developed by a Thales-led team, features an 11 m USV built by L3Harris, the SAMDIS towed synthetic aperture payload developed by Thales, and a Saab-supplied Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System. These in-water assets are complemented by operating centres hosting mission management and sonar analysis facilities.
A first programme milestone was achieved in 2021 with the delivery of identical MMCM prototypes/demonstrators to France and the UK. Both countries have ordered follow-on production-standard systems, at an aggregate value of EUR430 million (USD439 million), to meet the needs of their respective Système de Lutte Anti-Mines Marines du Futur (SLAM-F) and Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) programmes.
The UK has now confirmed that it has completed the first trial of the USV Apollo
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