The July contract covers 12 unmanned platforms, although no details were released regarding the breakdown by type, as well as the chartering of vessels capable of transporting and operating them, with no further details disclosed. The project is linked to the deteriorating security situation in the approaches to key French ports. Expanding mine-countermeasure capabilities is intended to ensure security and unrestricted freedom of navigation in critical areas.
Photos: DGA
The SLAM-F program is intended to deliver a generational replacement for the French Navy’s mine-countermeasure capabilities. France currently plans to retire its Tripartite-class minehunters and supporting vessels. They are to be replaced by multipurpose MCMPF motherships being developed in cooperation with Belgium and the Netherlands. In parallel, France is working with the United Kingdom on the development of the unmanned platforms that will be carried by these crewed vessels and used to detect and neutralize naval mines and other hazardous objects.
The system currently comprises C-Sweep unmanned surface vessels supplied by Thales, which can be equipped with towed sonars, as well as autonomous underwater vehicles capable of locating and identifying underwater objects and deploying explosive charges nearby to neutralize them.