Thales will deliver remote command centres equipped with AI technology. Credit: view image/Shutterstock.com.

Thales has secured a contract worth £10m ($13.5m) from UK government-owned entity Defence Equipment and Support to design, develop and supply new autonomous command centres for the Royal Navy’s Mine Counter Measures (MCM) operations.

The project forms part of the UK Ministry of Defence’s drive towards a “Hybrid Navy”, with the aim of introducing advanced technological capability into maritime defence.

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The agreement marks the start of a wider programme that could total up to £100m, aimed at deploying next-generation systems for mine detection and clearance for the Royal Navy.

Thales will deliver remote command centres equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, using its cortAIx accelerator alongside Mi-Map and M-Cube software applications.

These tools are designed to assist Royal Navy operators by analysing large volumes of sensor data and improving decision-making during mine hunting missions, both above and below water.

The new contract tasks Thales with integrating hardware and software to enable Royal Navy teams to coordinate uncrewed vessels and other autonomous assets.

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The company will also provide training and technical support in partnership with a UK-based supply chain, supporting ongoing capability improvements.

Initial deliveries will include twin-containerised centres built for flexibility and rapid deployment.

The Mi-Map planning software uses machine learning to process information at scale, while M-Cube assists mission planning, execution, and evaluation tasks.

Both technologies are intended to speed up identification of underwater threats compared to existing methods.

Thales UK Underwater Systems activities managing director Paul Armstrong said: “Thales is honoured to continue its central role in delivering mine countermeasures capability to the Royal Navy, building on our proven heritage.

“This next-generation of autonomous command centres is part of a flexible suite of autonomous C2 from containerised solutions to vessel operations centres or large, shore operations centres.” 

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