Belgium’s new M940 Oostende minehunter leads Europe’s unmanned mine warfare.

Belgium’s first City-class mine countermeasures vessel, M940 Oostende, arrived at Zeebrugge Naval Base on November 3, 2025, and integrates autonomous surface and underwater drones for standoff mine detection, identification, and clearance operations.

On November 3, 2025, the Belgian Navy received its first City-class mine countermeasures vessel, the M940 Oostende, built by Naval Group and Exail under the joint Belgian–Dutch rMCM (replacement Mine Counter Measures) program. The ship, which will enter operational testing and crew training ahead of its formal handover on November 7, 2025, represents the start of a European transition to autonomous mine countermeasure operations using surface, underwater, and aerial drones.
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The M940 Oostende will be used for stand-off mine warfare, where the mothership remains outside the danger zone while coordinating autonomous surface, underwater, and aerial systems to detect, classify, and neutralize mines without exposing the crew to risk. (Picture source: Belgian Navy)

The M940 Oostende completed its maiden voyage in international waters under an industrial flag and will officially be handed over to the Belgian Navy on November 7, 2025. Following the transfer, the crew will transition from navigation training to operational training with the new drone toolbox, focusing on step-by-step integration of autonomous systems for mine countermeasures. This milestone initiates a new operational era in which mine countermeasures are conducted primarily by unmanned platforms controlled from a mothership, a major change from the traditional close-contact minehunting concept used with the previous Tripartite-class ships. Notably, the rMCM (replacement Mine Counter Measures) program introduces a standoff mine warfare approach designed to minimize risks to human crews while maintaining continuous operational capability in confined or shallow waters.

Instead of operating directly in mined areas, Oostende will serve as a command and control hub, deploying a modular suite of unmanned vehicles. The mine countermeasure toolbox includes Inspector 125 unmanned surface vessels (USVs) used as remote mother craft, A18-M autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with UMISAS synthetic aperture sonar for wide-area detection, and T-18M towed sonars for route clearance and data collection. Additional components include Seascan identification remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for detailed classification and K-STER neutralization systems for mine disposal. The Skeldar V-200 rotary-wing UAV supports over-the-horizon communication relay and surface reconnaissance. Together, these assets enable multi-domain operations in which the mothership coordinates simultaneous detection, identification, and neutralization missions at a safe distance from the minefield, significantly improving crew survivability while preserving operational tempo and precision.

Oostende is the first of twelve ships in the joint Belgian–Dutch rMCM program, divided evenly between the two navies. The ships are built under the Belgium Naval & Robotics consortium, formed by Naval Group and Exail, following a contract signed in 2019. Each vessel measures approximately 82.6 meters in length, has a beam of 17 meters, a draught of 3.8 meters, and a displacement of about 2,800 tonnes, with a maximum speed of around 15.3 knots. The standard crew complement consists of about 33 sailors, expandable to more than 60 when including mission specialists and drone operators. Construction and assembly are distributed between Concarneau and Lanester in France, with modules produced in Poland and Romania. Exail’s facilities in Ostend handle drone production, integration, and testing, linking with the Belgian Navy Academy and NATO’s Centre of Excellence for Naval Mine Warfare to establish a domestic knowledge base.

The program ensures interoperability between Belgian City-class and Dutch Vlissingen-class variants, allowing shared logistics, training, and operational doctrines, while fostering an industrial ecosystem that strengthens both navies’ capacity in European maritime defense. The ship’s architecture combines Naval Group’s Polaris combat management system with Exail’s UMISOFT and a dedicated Mine Warfare System to centralize command of all sensors and unmanned assets. Inputs from sonars, optical cameras, and acoustic arrays are integrated into a unified operational picture within the mission control room. Oostende’s sensor suite includes a Thales NS50 AESA radar for air and surface surveillance, a Terma Scanter 6000 radar for navigation and target tracking, and a forward-looking sonar for obstacle avoidance and near-hull safety during launch and recovery operations. Data collected by A18-M AUVs, T-18M sonars, and Seascan ROVs is transmitted through Inspector 125 USVs back to the mothership in real time.

The City-class' main armament consists of a Bofors 40 Mk4 cannon, complemented by Sea deFNder 12.7 mm remote weapon stations, 7.62 mm MAG machine guns, LRAD acoustic systems, and water cannons for force protection and non-lethal deterrence. This defensive suite allows Oostende to protect itself and nearby vessels during mine-clearing and infrastructure-protection missions. The entire operational flow is supervised from a centralized mission room equipped with multiple consoles for parallel monitoring and control of all autonomous vehicles. The delivery schedule of the rMCM program has been adjusted to ensure complete integration and testing of the drone toolbox before final acceptance. Following Oostende, the Dutch Navy’s M840 Vlissingen is expected for delivery by late February 2026, delayed from the original date to allow for additional validation. Belgium’s second ship, the M941 Tournai, is scheduled for handover in March 2026, with subsequent vessels delivered approximately every six months until 2030.

The first operational deployment of the unmanned systems will occur in late November 2025, with the A18-M, Seascan, and K-STER drones undergoing testing in Belgian waters. The toolbox also includes modular influence sweeping systems such as Exail’s combined CTM magnetic sweep and Patria’s acoustic sweep, enabling simulation of ship signatures to detonate influence mines. Continuous software upgrades and data fusion improvements will be implemented throughout the class’s service life. Integration trials will validate sensor interoperability, autonomy algorithms, and launch-and-recovery performance in various sea states, ensuring the operational readiness of both motherships and unmanned systems before entering NATO service. Belgium financed six ships within the €1.8 to €2 billion joint program, which also covers the drone systems, training, and long-term logistics.

The investment was justified by the potential economic losses that could result from mine-induced blockages of Belgian ports, estimated at several hundred million euros per day. Each vessel’s hull is valued at approximately €140–150 million, excluding mission modules, which are shared and rotated across the fleet. The program provides domestic industrial returns through local manufacturing and long-term maintenance in Ostend, supporting national defense and economic objectives. The project also contributes to European mine countermeasure standardization and joint NATO capability development. By developing a new generation of stand-off MCM vessels, Belgium and the Netherlands aim to ensure safe navigation for commercial shipping, protect energy infrastructure, and maintain readiness for alliance commitments in European and international waters.

Training for the crews of M940 Oostende began with basic ship operations, safety drills, and propulsion system management before expanding to the use of mission systems and autonomous vehicle operations. Specialized training for drone operators, mission commanders, and technical support teams is being conducted in cooperation with industry partners to ensure proficiency in deploying, maintaining, and recovering multiple unmanned systems simultaneously. The Zeebrugge naval base has been upgraded with dedicated facilities, simulators, and logistics spaces to host these new operations. As legacy Tripartite-class ships are gradually decommissioned, Belgium plans to maintain continuous participation in NATO mine countermeasure missions while transitioning to a fully unmanned operational model.

The City-class vessels are designed with low acoustic, magnetic, and infrared signatures, shock-resistant structures, redundant propulsion, and enhanced cyber protection to meet modern survivability standards. The ship’s design emphasizes flexible mission configuration and autonomous system support. Launch and recovery arrangements include lateral LARS for surface drones, stern cranes and gantries for heavy AUVs and ROVs, and a full-width hangar capable of housing drones, containers, and maintenance equipment. Internal spaces are modular to facilitate reconfiguration for different missions such as harbor clearance, offshore infrastructure protection, and expeditionary mine countermeasures. Propulsion uses a CODLAD system combining ABC diesel generators and twin electric motors driving Wärtsilä shafts, supported by bow and stern thrusters for dynamic positioning and fine maneuvering, providing a range exceeding 3,500 nautical miles and endurance for extended operations in the North Sea and beyond.

The M940 Oostende’s modular design supports future technological insertions, including upgraded drones, enhanced sonar arrays, and expanded data-processing capacity. Operational crews of approximately 33 personnel can be supplemented by drone specialists and mission planners for high-intensity deployments, allowing the ship to act as both a command node and a forward logistics platform for unmanned systems. The near-term focus after Oostende’s transfer will be to validate full mission capability through progressive sea trials and tactical exercises. These will begin with single-drone deployments and advance to coordinated operations involving multiple AUVs, ROVs, and USVs under real-world conditions. Skeldar V-200 UAVs will assist in communications relay between the mothership and unmanned platforms during extended-range operations.

Data collected during the trials will be used to optimize software algorithms, communication protocols, and mine-detection parameters. The ship’s operations center will refine human–machine coordination workflows and improve situational awareness displays for mine classification and clearance planning. The Belgian Navy aims to declare initial operational capability after successful validation of these components. The long-term schedule envisions annual deliveries of new ships to maintain program continuity with the Dutch Navy. Once fully operational, the combined fleet will represent one of the most advanced standoff mine countermeasure forces in Europe, designed to integrate with allied task groups under NATO frameworks while maintaining autonomous national control.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.