Paris-based technology group Exail Robotics has received a $67 million contract from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency for K-STER C underwater mine disposal vehicles, K-Ster CT training vehicles and associated services.
“This new contract is a testament to our commitment to providing innovative and reliable solutions for [mine countermeasure] operations,” said Antony Penn, Exail chief commercial officer. “With our purpose-built facilities in Ostend, we are already fully equipped to deliver these new systems.”
Exail Robotics Belgium’s Ostend facility has been producing a spectrum of drones for Belgium and the Netherlands amid both NATO members’ efforts to improve their MCM capabilities.
K-Ster is a fully automated underwater robot demining system with a compact, lightweight design and an advanced guidance system for precise targeting and detonation. It could be integrated into the Unmanned Mine Countermeasure Integrated System, composed of unmanned surface vessels, autonomous underwater vessels and disposal remotely operated vehicles.
NATO is not the only alliance relying more on unmanned maritime systems. In May, the AUKUS trilateral cooperation between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia tapped ThayerMahan and Ocius Technology to support an initiative to develop an uncrewed acoustic sensing system for distributed undersea surveillance networks.