The US Navy has awarded Thales’ US subsidiary Advanced Acoustic Concepts a $53.9-million contract to deliver two remote mine-hunting modules.
The award also covers engineering support and includes options for additional modules that could raise the contract’s total value to approximately $196.2 million.
The Remote Mine Hunting system is designed to help sailors detect, locate, and classify underwater mines while operating at safer distances from potential threats.
It combines advanced sonar, mission management software, and remotely operated vehicle technology to support the Navy’s mine countermeasures operations.
Each module will include a multiview towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar, which produces high-resolution images to help identify mines and reduce false detections. The system will also use AI-assisted Automatic Target Recognition software to process, classify, and map mine-hunting data, helping operators make decisions faster.
“The ability to counter undersea mine threats remains fundamental to maritime security and naval mission success,” Thales North America CEO Rob Geckle said. “By advancing the Navy’s MCM capabilities, this program will help strengthen fleet readiness and support mission success in an increasingly dynamic operating environment.”
US Expands Mine-Countermeasure Capabilities
The contract is part of a broader US Navy effort to use unmanned systems for mine detection and neutralization while keeping ships and sailors away from hazardous areas.
The Defense Innovation Unit and the service launched a $10-million Mine Countermeasures Modernization Prize Challenge in May to identify commercial technologies that could detect and neutralize underwater mines from safe distances.
The challenge covered three areas: near-surface mine neutralization, bottom-mine detection, and bottom-mine neutralization.
By October, the US Navy had selected BeeX, BlackSea Technologies, and Vatn Systems as winners following demonstrations of their systems. The service said the winning technologies would be integrated into its autonomous mine-countermeasure kits.
