The Belgian’s Navy’s Tournai (M941) minehunter vessel has arrived at Zeebrugge in Bruges ahead of its official handover.
Tournai is the navy’s second City-class vessel after Oostende (M940), which arrived in the country in November 2025.
It is the third ship under the Belgian-Dutch mine countermeasures vessel (rMCM) replacement program, a joint effort between the Netherlands and Belgium that was launched in 2019 to build six rMCM vessels for each navy — leading to a total of 12 — through the 2030s.
The Belgium Naval & Robotics (BNR) consortium — comprising French shipbuilder Naval Group and autonomous systems specialist Exail — will officially transfer the vessel to the Belgian government on September 25.
Following the handover, the Tournai will undergo integration, training, testing, and qualification tests.
“As the supplier of the autonomous systems for the program, Exail is fully committed to the manufacturing and qualification of the next drone toolboxes that will equip these next-generation ships,” said Fabrice Bosch rMCM Program Director at Exail.
Minehunter Vessels
Tournai, like its sister ships, was designed with a “stand-off” concept that keeps its crewed personnel operating at a safe distance while autonomous systems find and destroy mines.
Its uncrewed systems toolbox includes two Inspector 125 uncrewed surface vehicles and three A-18 autonomous underwater vehicles from Exail, as well as two V200 Skeldar aerial drones from Saab.
Measuring approximately 82 meters (270 feet) long and 17 meters (55 feet) wide, the rMCM vessels can accommodate more than 60 personnel.
Each vessel sails at a top speed of 15.3 knots (28.3 kilometers/17.6 miles per hour) and features a range of up to 3,500 nautical miles (4,028 miles/6,482 kilometers).