NATO taps Exail for mine-clearing underwater drones

MILAN — The NATO Support and Procurement Agency has placed a new order for underwater robots capable of finding and clearing naval mines to be used by two European alliance members.

The Belgium division of the underwater drone producer Exail Robotics announced this week that it was awarded a $67 million contract by NSPA for the procurement of an undisclosed number of its K-Ster C expendable mine disposal vehicles and K-Ster CT training vehicles.

The primary user countries of the systems will be the Netherlands and Belgium, where the K-Ster units will also be assembled, according to a company press release.

Exail established a production line in Oostende, Belgium, in 2022, where it has been manufacturing different drones for both navies already as part of a modernization program to upgrade their respective mine countermeasure capabilities.

The K-Ster C is a lightweight vehicle equipped with a guidance system that allows precise targeting and a potent shaped charge capable of effectively destroying all types of mines, per company information. The other variant acquired by NSPA is dedicated for training and is thus fitted with an inert warhead.

The drone can be operated from a command-and-control unit based outside of the minefield, either from land or on a ship, and can also be automatically deployed from an unmanned surface vessel.

In the last year, NATO has turned its attention to testing a variety of unmanned underwater technologies, including underwater drones outfitted with 5G communications capabilities, in different exercises to better connect surface and undersea assets.

As part of the Baltic exercise Baltops 2024, which took place in June, U.S. and NATO forces conducted joint mine hunting and mine detonation operations in the Baltic Sea, culminating in an mine countermeasures combat rehearsal drill at the end.

The exercise combined over 20 surface ships, 20 unmanned systems consisting of unmanned surface and underwater vessels, as well as two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

米兰——北约支援与采购局已向两个欧洲联盟成员国订购了一批能够发现和清除水雷的水下机器人。

水下无人机制造商 Exail Robotics 的比利时分公司本周宣布，该公司已获得 NSPA 价值 6700 万美元的合同，用于采购数量不详的 K-Ster C 一次性水雷处理车和 K-Ster CT 训练车。

根据该公司的新闻稿，该系统的主要用户国家将是荷兰和比利时，K-Ster 设备也将在这两个国家组装。

Exail 于 2022 年在比利时奥斯坦德建立了一条生产线，并已开始为两国海军生产不同的无人机，作为一项现代化计划的一部分，旨在提升两国各自的扫雷能力。

据该公司消息，K-Ster C 是一款轻型车辆，配备有可实现精确瞄准的制导系统和威力强大的聚能装药，能够有效摧毁所有类型的地雷。NSPA 采购的另一款 K-Ster C 则专用于训练，因此配备的是惰性弹头。

无人机可由位于雷区外的指挥控制单元进行操作，该控制单元既可位于陆地上，也可位于船上，还可以从无人水面舰艇上自动部署。

去年，北约将注意力转向测试各种无人水下技术，包括配备 5G 通信能力的水下无人机，在不同的演习中更好地连接水面和水下资产。

作为 2024 年 6 月举行的波罗的海“波罗的海行动”演习的一部分，美国和北约部队在波罗的海进行了联合扫雷和排雷行动，并在最后进行了水雷对抗作战演练。

此次演习联合了 20 多艘水面舰艇、20 个无人系统（包括无人水面舰艇和无人水下舰艇）以及两架 MH-60S 海鹰直升机。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。