France has launched the Espadon (swordfish) unmanned surface vehicle demonstrator of a Naval surface drone.

The demonstrator, christened Sterenn Du, is a drone-carrying drone developed under a basic research contract awarded in July 2009 by DGA to an industry group comprising DCNS, Thales and ECA.

Espadon is a 17m-long unmanned surface vessel with a displacement capacity of 25t, and will be fitted with a towed array sonar and small submarine drones.

The unmanned surface vehicle will be used to conduct mine-hunting operations, both in the littorals and offshore, without endangering the lives of crewmen.

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The vehicle will undergo sea trials in 2011 and 2012 off the western tip of Brittany on behalf of DGA and the French Navy.

See Also:

The Espadon programme is part of the système de lutte anti-mines futur (SLAMF) programme that allows implementation of the latest developments in naval robotics to improve mine warfare capabilities.