The first autonomous munition from the MMCM mine hunting programme was successfully fired at the Swedish Test Centre in Motala Lake.
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OCCAR Press Release, Karlsborg, 23 April 2025: Coinciding with the first autonomous MMCM Primary System Delivery by OCCAR to the United Kingdom (UK), munition from the MMCM mine hunting programme was successfully fired at the Swedish Test Centre (FMV) in Motala Lake.
The aim of the testing exercise was to have a high visibility demonstration event that would reassure OCCAR customer nations, France and UK, of the progress made of the Neutralisation process that will be delivered for the Final Operational Capability of MMCM.
The munition was attached to an ad-hoc target by a tele-operated underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in accordance with the MMCM Neutralisation Concept of Use. It also demonstrates the cutting-edge end-to-end concept ‘man away from the menace’ that will become a reality thanks to MMCM.
This successful trial, demonstrating the excellent cooperation between Thales (prime contractor), SAAB (sub-contractor in charge of the (ROV) and Mine Neutralisation System (MNS) and OCCAR, was carried out with the presence of French and British customers (DGA and DE&S) and final clients (French and UK Navies). It was the first live firing exercise performed in a real ‘operational like’ environment.
On 25 March, 2025, the munition successfully passed two major milestones namely the Critical Design Review (CDR) and Test Readiness Review (TRR) allowing the MNS to start its qualification phase.
MMCM (Maritime Mine Counter Measure) is the world’s first autonomous mine hunting system. After threat detection and localisation, the ROV’s aim is to identify and then neutralise the mine with the MNS (munition).
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