Autonomous USV Hunts Mines In Royal Navy Trial

The Royal Navy has been experimenting with an autonomous Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) to confirm its mine-hunting capabilities ahead of its full deployment in 2025.

A prototype Apollo vessel with a range of equipment including a towed sonar array was launched from SD Northern River, a Defence Marine Services’ ship, programmed with a mission to scan the seabed for various different types of mine. The recent trial took place in the Firth of Clyde, off Scotland's west coast.

As per a recent Royal Navy press statement, the test was deemed a success in a "challenging environment with good water depth and coastal currents."

The Royal Navy plans to acquire an upgraded version of Apollo, manufactured by L3 Harris under a contract with Thales (France), to use on front-line operations. Apollo comes under the Maritime Mine Counter Measure (MMCM) programme that aims to provide advanced autonomous mine hunting equipment to the Royal Navy and France’s Marine Nationale through an agreement managed by Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR).

The total contract value for U.K. and France is €430m, of which £184m is from the U.K. The Apollo craft has been handed back to Thales for upgrades ahead of being handed to the Royal Navy in 12 months’ time.

Commander Daniel Herridge, the Commanding Officer of the Royal Navy’s Mine & Threat Exploitation Group, said: “Building on previous success, this has been another step in the paradigm shift of delivering Mine Counter Measures (MCM) capability in a completely new way, harnessing technology and building on the skills of our people to continue to deliver world-leading capability."

• You can read more details on the Royal Navy website