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Royal Navy minehunting operations to get boost with new command centres
29 December 2025
A £10m contract will see the Royal Navy use portable autonomous command centres for minehunting operations.
Thales has been awarded the contract by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) which will support the Senior Service’s vision of becoming a Hybrid Navy.
The contract, which has the scope to grow up to £100m to deliver next-generation mine countermeasure capabilities for the Royal Navy, will see Thales design, develop and deliver the command centres.
It will see artificial intelligence integrated with software and systems to create a command centre which will control both above and below water uncrewed equipment.
The aim is to see the systems work together to make them safer, more efficient and agile when used in minehunting missions.
The Thales M-Cube Mission Management System will be at the heart of the command centres. This combat-proven software suite is already used by multiple navies worldwide for planning, execution and evaluation of both conventional and autonomous MCM missions.
Also included in the operating centres will be Mi-Map - planning and evaluation software Featuring advanced AI-powered automatic target recognition, it filters and refines raw data, streamlining and expediting the minehunting process.
Working with programme partners, Thales will initially deliver two centres that will seamlessly integrate platforms, systems and sub-systems.
Paul Armstrong, Managing Director for Underwater Systems activities, Thales in the UK, 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.
“By collaborating across the supply chain, we are committed to supporting the UK with world-class technology and fostering growth and high-value skilled jobs across our UK operations.”
Thales’ investment in UK mine countermeasures has sustained more than 200 highly skilled jobs—particularly at Thales’ Somerset and Plymouth sites.