- Faced with the evolving threat, Catherine Vautrin, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans, approved in July 2026 a new stage of the SLAM-F program (Future Mine Countermeasures System), aimed at maintaining the highest level of French mine warfare capability.
- This step aims to provide a complete and autonomous mine warfare capability, operational on the high seas, through the joint deployment of ships, drones and associated control centers.
- The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has selected the Chantiers de l’Atlantique / Abeilles International consortium to deploy this offshore capability. Two civilian naval platforms, named “Protée,” will be made available to the French Navy by 2028 to implement this capability.
- This order illustrates the commitment of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs to maintaining the strategic autonomy of the French Navy in an area critical to maritime security.
Faced with the evolving threat, Catherine Vautrin, Minister of the Armed Forces and Veterans, approved in July 2026 a new stage of the SLAM-F program (Future Mine Countermeasures System), aimed at maintaining the highest level of French mine warfare capability.
This step aims to provide a complete and autonomous mine warfare capability, operational on the high seas, through the joint deployment of ships, drones and associated control centers.
The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has selected the Chantiers de l’Atlantique / Abeilles International consortium to deploy this offshore capability. Two civilian naval platforms, named “Protée,” will be made available to the French Navy by 2028 to implement this capability.
This order illustrates the commitment of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs to maintaining the strategic autonomy of the French Navy in an area critical to maritime security.
Faced with a proliferating and evolving threat from naval mines, the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs is strengthening its underwater intervention capabilities to guarantee freedom of navigation and the protection of French interests.
Thanks to the use of drones, the SLAM-F program makes it possible to move man away from the threat and to increase the discretion and performance of mine warfare operations.
The drones developed under the SLAM-F program feature high-resolution synthetic aperture 3D sonars, real-time processing assisted by artificial intelligence, and cyber-secure radio and satellite communications. The French Navy is already equipped with several operational underwater and surface drones from the SLAM-F program.
To meet short-term operational requirements, while preserving the agility needed for the SLAM-F capability target, the DGA has adopted an innovative approach based on two civilian naval platforms of the ” Multi-Purpose Special Vessel ” type, chartered from the companies Abeilles International and Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
These ships, named “Protée,” rely on a mixed operating model, combining a French civilian crew responsible for navigating the vessel and a French Navy military crew dedicated to conducting mine warfare operations. Based on civilian standards, mature technologies, and containerized and interchangeable mine warfare systems, this modular architecture guarantees high availability, facilitates vessel reconfiguration, and enables a potential of 320 mission days per ship, with a 24-hour alert capability.
Main characteristics of the “Protée” buildings:
Fleet of two ships chartered for a period of no more than 10 years;
Civil naval platform of the ” Multi-Purpose Special Vessel ” type, 80 meters in length for a displacement of 4,000 tons;
Launching and recovery system developed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and NOV-BLM, allowing the deployment and recovery of SLAM-F drones up to sea state 5 (rough sea);
Mixed crew with a French civilian crew for the operation of the civilian vessel, and a detachment from the drone-equipped mine countermeasures flotilla of the French Navy for the implementation of mine warfare systems;
Standardized interfaces capable of accommodating all mine warfare modules:
Command and control module;
Surface drone module (two Unmanned surface Vehicle (USV) SLAM-F drones);
Underwater drone module (two New Generation (NG) Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) drones);
Maritime mine neutralization module;
Mine clearance diver module (two boats, infirmary, recompression chamber).
The SLAM-F program demonstrates French operational and technological leadership. Thanks to this ecosystem, driven by the DGA (French Directorate General of Armaments), France is among the few countries to possess cutting-edge expertise in the detection and neutralization of naval mines.
