AN Anglo French defence deal to develop an unmanned mine detection craft will help protect jobs in Hampshire.

The Minister for Defence Procurement, Harriett Baldwin, and her French counterpart, Laurent Collet-Billon, have announced the next £117 million phase of the joint Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) programme.

A prototype vessel, due to be delivered to each navy in 2019, is being developed by a consortium led by Thales at Fareham and made up of BAE Systems, SAAB, ECA Group and ASV Global at Portchester.

The new mine hunter will be based on the firm’s 12-metre Halcyon craft, which was tested successfully at Unmanned Warrior, a huge exercise for autonomous vessels held in Scotland earlier this month.

Underwater mines pose a serious threat to shipping for decades after deployment..

During the last ten years alone, international task forces have cleared more than 1,000 Cold War mines from the Baltic “We’ve been working with the world’s navies for decades,” said Jason Dey, Mine Warfare Product Line Manager, Thales UK.

“The technology that we’ve supplied to the Royal Navy is already capable of detecting and classifying an object the size of a football, up to 1,000 metres away.

"But that’s not the only challenge.

“Yes, we can equip specialist Mine Counter-Measures Vessels (MCMVs) with powerful sensors, but that still means sending people to deal with an unquantified threat.”

Fareham MP Suella Fernandes MP has welcomed the news, commenting: “The deployment of the new unmanned mine clearance vehicle will help to ensure the safety of our armed forces personnel whilst on operations – and the programme will ensure Britain remains at the leading edge of maritime mine warfare capability and autonomous systems technology.

"It is excellent news that the programme will bring jobs and skills to Fareham whilst adding to our proud maritime and naval heritage in what will be a vital part of the Royal Navy’s capability and our national defence”