First vessel of the Belgo-Ducth rMCM program, the ‘Oostende’, has completed her sea trials following an extensive set of tests with her ‘toolbox’.
Exail press release
The MCM1 Oostende has successfully completed sea trials with the Inspector 125 , Exail’s mine hunting Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV).
A world first in naval mine warfare: the first-ever launch and recovery of a USV from a mothership, using the rMCM program’s stand-off concept, keeping crews safe while unmanned systems do the work.
The future of mine warfare is here, enabling:
- Autonomous surface, underwater & aerial vehicles working together
- Faster, safer, parallel minehunting operations
- Significantly reduced human exposure in hazardous zones
A major milestone for the rMCM program, and a game-changing capability for the Belgian and Dutch navies.
-End-
Naval News comment:
Naval News contacted Naval Group before the end of the sea trials to find out more about the tests that were taking place at that time in July. Here are Naval Group’s replies (dating back to mid-July):
1. Why return to the dry dock?
In accordance with its provisional schedule, the vessel has now returned to Concarneau for its final period of dry dock work, including painting the hull, cleaning the propellers and finishing the living quarters.
It is during this period that the repairs necessary following the incident with the USV are being carried out. The ship has now left the dry dock (on 11/07) and is preparing to resume sea trials.
2- Have the combat system trials in Lorient been completed?
The ‘Oostende’ and the Inspector 125 (second USV in the series) have successfully begun their joint testing campaign in Lorient to test the launch and recovery of the autonomous surface drone from the mother ship, ahead of its delivery scheduled for this year. For the first time, an Exail series USV was successfully deployed and recovered via the floating dock, directly from the Oostende. The sailors on board expressed their satisfaction with the tests carried out.
The final weeks of testing will be devoted to validating the last elements of the combat system, but above all to finalising the tests for the deployment of the drones in full remote operation from the ship, under conditions representative of operational mine warfare missions.
3- Have all the tests been completed?
No, testing will continue in the coming weeks to validate all systems and their interfaces with the carrier ship.
4- When is delivery scheduled? Will it take place in Brittany or Belgium?
Delivery is scheduled for the second half of 2025 in Belgium.
According to a press release from the Belgian Navy, it specifies that the delivery should take place in end of October 2025. “This delivery is therefore slightly behind the initial schedule.” details the document. To explain this delay, the Belgian Navy states: “the exceptional complexity of the new mine countermeasure concept.” It adds that “High cybersecurity requirements are also contributing to a longer development time. The industry emphasises that this is a technologically innovative project, considered a world first.” It mentions also the small incident that took place during the tests: “An incident during an integration test at the end of May, in which the M940 Oostende suffered minor damage, had only a limited impact on the delivery schedule.”
Regarding the next vessels deliveries, the press release confirms the second vessel of the class meant for the Netherlands will take place in December 2025 and the third one – meant for Belgium – will follow in September 2026. The last nine ship deliveries are then expected to take place every six months, with the last one scheduled for December 2030.
For the record, first-of-class Oostende, which is destined for Belgium, undertook a first set of sea trials in July 2024 to test its propulsion and navigation systems. The operational qualification of the drone ‘toolbox’ started early 2025.
Each toolbox will comprise two Inspector 125M unmanned surface vessels (USVs); three A-18 medium autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with UMISAS 120 sonars; two T-18 towed sonars configured with the UMISAS 240 sonar; Seascan mine identification vehicles (x 4) and K-Ster C mine neutralisers (x 40); two unmanned air vehicles (UMS Skeldar V-200); and a single influence mine sweeping system (integrating five CTM magnetic modules and one Patria acoustic module). Sweep missions use the modified Inspector 125S USV (which uses propellers rather than waterjets to increase the tow force).
These mine countermeasure vessels have the following characteristics:
- Length: 82,6m
- Width: 17m
- Displacement: 2800t
- Maximum speed: 15,3 knots
- Range: >3500 nautical miles
- Crew: 63 people
Check out our video coverage of the rMCM program with Naval Group during the Euronaval 2024 press trip:
Article updated on July 30th, 2025.
