Navy orders autonomous minesweepers from Atlas Elektronik UK

The Royal Navy has ordered three autonomous minesweepers to work on mine disposal operations in a circa £25m contract.

A contract has been awarded to Atlas Elektronik UK to deliver the Combined Influence Sweep (Sweep) system, and will support more than 25 jobs at the Dorset-based company. Additional jobs will also be supported in the supply chain.

The crewless system is the first of its kind in the navy and will allow personnel to neutralise mines at range while on operations around the globe.

Sweep is said to be able to defeat modern digital sea mines – it has an autonomous vessel at the heart of the system. The vessel can neutralise many types of seas mines using towed equipment to generate a variety of simulated magnetic, acoustic and electric ship signatures to initiate the mine.

The whole system can be controlled remotely, either based at sea or on land, and can be deployed quickly when needed.

These autonomous systems will enable the navy to tackle modern digital mines that may not otherwise be located in challenging minehunting conditions.

“The autonomous sweep system represents a fundamental step in the navy’s transition to autonomous offboard systems to counter the threat posed to international shipping by the sea mine,” says CDR Mark Atkinson.

The latest investment comes just weeks after the navy announced it would be investing in three autonomous maritime mine countermeasures (MMCM) systems.

Both Sweep and the MMCM can work together to defeat the threat posed by sea mines to make international waters safer.

The first Sweep system will be delivered in late 2022, after which they will enter operational evaluation before entering service at a date to be determined.