The first mine countermeasures (MCM) unmanned surface vessel (USV) is planned for delivery to the Republic of Singapore Navy in 2027.
Construction work on the first MCM USV for the Republic of Singapore Navy has officially begun with a steel cutting ceremony at the shipyard building them.
The 13 November ceremony at ST Engineering’s Gul Yard was officiated by Singapore’s Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Sean Wat. Other attendees included President Marine of ST Engineering Mr. Tan Leong Peng and Roy Chan, the Defense Science and Technology Agency’s Deputy Chief Executive (Operations). Rear Admiral Wat pressed the button to activate the steel cutting process, marking the official start of construction on the unmanned surface vessels.
Deliveries of the unmanned surface vessels and their command and control systems will begin in 2027, with the unmanned craft intended to replace the four Bedok-class mine countermeasures vessels currently in service with the Republic of Singapore Navy. They are part of the Navy’s efforts to modernize mine countermeasures capabilities, with other systems being introduced including autonomous underwater vehicles, new minesweeping systems, as well as new command and control and maintenance infrastructures.
ST Engineering announced the contract award for the MCM USV during IMDEX Asia 2025. French defense companies Thales and Exail will act as sub-contractor to ST Engineering. Thales will provide its Pathmaster mine warfare system while Exail will deliver several drone systems (the “toolbox”) to go aboard the USV. The MCM USV could potentially be deployed from the Republic of Singapore Navy’s future MRCV acting as mothership.
According to the Republic of Singapore Navy, the USVs will be rapidly reconfigurable for differing missions, with their primary systems being either a towed synthetic aperture sonar for seabed survey, or a mine neutralisation system for identification and neutralisation. This will facilitate simultaneous surveying and neutralization of mines, offering “significant” time savings compared to a manned mine countermeasures vessel that must first survey the area before neutralizing detected mines.
The USV will also be equipped with a suite of electro-optical system, gun, and less-lethal weapon systems, allowing them to be rapidly re-rolled for other maritime security tasks as needed, with the common design also simplifying maintenance.
Use of the unmanned vessels will both reduce risk to human operators who no longer need to be aboard a mine countermeasures vessel inside a minefield, and reduce the manpower required for the mine countermeasures mission, with the Republic of Singapore Navy saying a “small team” of remote operators will be required instead of “minimally” 30 crew members aboard a current mine countermeasures vessel. Further manpower reductions are achieved through automation of launch and recovery systems for the unmanned surface vessels, as well as automated berthing and unberthing.
RSN MARSEC USV with pennant number ‘603’ conducts a maritime security patrol in the Singapore Strait. (MINDEF)
The Republic of Singapore Navy already operates a different variant of the ST Engineering USV configured for the maritime security (MARSEC) mission. Fully unmanned operational missions patrolling the Singapore Strait with these unmanned surface vehicles officially began in January, with the Republic of Singapore Navy saying experience and insights from operating them has influenced the design of the mine countermeasures configuration.