Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress the Royal Navy has made on the (a) development and (b) deployment of autonomous maritime mine hunting technologies.

The Royal Navy has made significant progress in developing autonomous maritime mine hunting technologies, since the delivery of the WILTON mine hunting system in 2020.

WILTON has been assimilated into the wider Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) programme which is delivering a rolling programme of unmanned surface vessels and unmanned underwater vehicles for use by Royal Navy minewarfare specialists.

The mine hunting and sweeping systems being delivered through the MHC Programme, employ high technology sonars and sensors to improve the Royal Navy's ability to detect and dispose of modern mines quickly and autonomously. Autonomous mine hunting systems are in regular use, both in the UK and globally.