The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) announced recently that it has ordered 12 additional surface and underwater drones and chartered vessels to strengthen mine countermeasure capabilities around metropolitan France. The additional unmanned systems will be integrated into a growing fleet of surface and underwater drones, while chartered drone-carrying vessels are expected to help ensure continuity of operations as the new capability is introduced. SLAM-F is designed to replace the French Navy’s ageing Tripartite-class minehunters and supporting vessels with a new generation of crewed and unmanned mine warfare systems. The system includes C-Sweep unmanned surface vessels supplied by Thales, which can be equipped with towed sonar systems, as well as autonomous underwater vehicles designed to locate and identify underwater objects. France is also developing new mine-clearing diver support ships and drone-carrying mine warfare vessels, which are intended to extend the range and endurance of its future mine countermeasure operations.