(Image Credit: Naval Group)

Naval Group and ECA Group recently established a technological and commercial partnership in the field of unmanned mine warfare. The first practical application was completed as part of the response to the consultation launched by Belgium for a Belgian-Dutch cooperation for the supply of 12 mine hunters.

Mine hunting practices are being revolutionized through the massive use of unmanned systems operating on the surface, in the air and in the sea. This paradigm shift will lead to transformations that will affect naval forces as a whole. The future mine warfare capability should be established and then develop, based on threats and technological progress in the areas of staff, equipment, interoperability and organization, concepts and doctrine, infrastructures and logistics.

In preparation for this near future, Naval Group and ECA Group recently established a technological and commercial partnership in unmanned mine warfare, aimed at developing and promoting an offer of military mine countermeasure vessels (MCM) integrating drones, sonars, dredgers and remotely operated systems.

Naval Group and ECA Group are offering an innovative solution for robotic mine warfare that is fully integrated on board an MCM military vessel to provide the Belgian and Dutch naval forces with a comprehensive solution. In addition to these solutions, the two partners have formed a project management team based in Belgium that will rely on various local partners. The collaboration will integrate UMIS unmanned systems on board Naval Group vessels to offer launching and recovery systems, making these resources highly available for use at sea and integrating them into the vessel’s warfare system to manage their mission from end to end. —Naval Group/ECA Group