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UK and France deploy AI-powered drone boats for mine clearance

Boats and Planes

Business Honor
21 March, 2025

UK and France deploy AI-powered drone boats for mine detection, boosting maritime security and safety.

France and the UK have just taken delivery of an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MMCM) system that employs drone boats to address one of the most challenging maritime security threats to maritime commerce—naval mines. The French defense firm Thales has delivered the first of four systems to France in February, with the first unit arriving in March in the UK. The two nations invested $468 million collectively in this advanced system.

Naval mines that float and can become potential menaces to international shipping routes have been a cause of concern, particularly in war zones such as the Black Sea, where mines planted during the Russia-Ukraine conflict threaten critical trade routes. The MMCM system employs autonomous ships with sophisticated sonar to locate mines and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to dispose of them, all from a mobile operations center. This system obviates the need for manned boats to venture into perilous seas, greatly limiting the risk of human life.

Matthew Morrison, Thales' Delivery Director for Mine Countermeasures in the UK, highlighted the increasing threat to world trade, citing that food and energy transportation is more exposed than ever since WWII. The AI-driven drones accelerate the detection and neutralization process, as AI can process massive amounts of data much faster than human operators.

The system has a number of benefits, such as higher efficiency, lower operating expenses, and being able to engage in high-risk theaters like the Strait of Hormuz or the Odesa port of Ukraine. Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, described the system as a huge leap forward for autonomous naval technology, emphasizing its capacity to have "stand-off" features in risky environments, while eliminating the requirement for conventional mine countermeasure vessels.