Thales Contract Advances Autonomous Naval Mine Countermeasures

The Royal Navy is moving toward more autonomous mine countermeasures through portable, AI-enabled remote command centres designed to manage uncrewed maritime systems. Under a new contract, Thales introduced an Autonomous Remote Command Centre capability to support next-generation mine hunting operations.

A shift toward autonomous mine hunting architectures
The contract, awarded by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), covered the design, development, and delivery of portable autonomous command centres intended to modernise Mine Counter Measures (MCM) missions. The programme aligned with the United Kingdom’s Strategic Defence objectives for a “Hybrid Navy,” combining crewed and uncrewed platforms within a single operational framework. The initial phase represented a £10 million investment, with programme scope structured to expand to as much as £100 million as capabilities matured.

Command centres built around AI-enabled decision support
At the core of the command centres was the M-Cube Mission Management System, a mission software suite already deployed by multiple navies for planning, execution, and post-mission evaluation of both conventional and autonomous MCM operations. M-Cube aggregated data across task force, platform, and individual unit levels to provide situational awareness suitable for distributed operations involving multiple unmanned assets.

Mi-Map planning and evaluation software formed the analytical layer of the remote command centre. The application used AI-powered automatic target recognition to process sonar and sensor data, filtering raw inputs and prioritising potential threats. Through machine learning techniques, Mi-Map continuously updated its data models as additional information was collected, enabling faster target identification and improved accuracy compared with manual analysis workflows.

Integration of cortAIx into mission-critical systems
AI functions within the command centres were supported by cortAIx, Thales’ internal AI accelerator. cortAIx consolidated AI development expertise across the group, drawing on a workforce of approximately 800 specialists focused on deploying AI in sovereign defence systems and sensor-heavy environments. Within the MCM context, cortAIx-enabled processing supported secure data handling and accelerated decision cycles under operational constraints.

Containerised deployment and system-of-systems integration
The initial deliveries under the contract consisted of twin containerised command centre solutions. These units were designed to integrate platforms, systems, and sub-systems above and below the waterline into a coordinated system of systems. The architecture allowed Royal Navy personnel to control and monitor fleets of autonomous and uncrewed vehicles remotely, reducing exposure of crews to mine threats while increasing mission tempo and coverage.

Broader applicability across seabed warfare
Beyond mine countermeasures, the autonomous command-and-control capability addressed requirements across seabed warfare operations, where persistent sensing and coordinated unmanned assets are increasingly central. The modular design supported iterative upgrades, training, and rapid technology adoption through collaboration with a United Kingdom-based supply chain, aligning with the Royal Navy’s Long Term Capability Plan for integrated MCM mission systems.

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