Thales and HII partners to develop advanced autonomous undersea mine countermeasure capabilities
Rhea-AI Summary
HII (NYSE: HII) and Thales have successfully integrated and tested Thales' SAMDIS 600 sonar with HII's REMUS 620 medium unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The integration was demonstrated through a field exercise at HII's Pocasset facility in Massachusetts in August 2025.
The collaboration combines Thales' multi-aspect synthetic aperture SAMDIS 600 sonar technology with HII's modular, long-endurance REMUS 620 UUV to enhance autonomous mine detection, classification, and imaging capabilities. This integration aims to strengthen undersea security, mine countermeasures, and subsea infrastructure monitoring for naval forces and partners globally.
Positive
- Integration demonstrates successful technological compatibility between two industry leaders
- Enhances autonomous undersea mine countermeasure capabilities for NATO and allied forces
- Leverages HII's established REMUS UUV platform with Thales' leading sonar technology
Negative
- None.
Insights
HII and Thales successfully integrated advanced sonar with unmanned underwater vehicles, strengthening their competitive position in naval defense technology.
The successful integration of Thales' SAMDIS 600 sonar with HII's REMUS 620 underwater vehicle represents a significant technological advancement in autonomous mine countermeasure capabilities. This integration combines Thales' expertise in multi-aspect synthetic aperture sonar technology with HII's modular, long-endurance unmanned platform to enhance naval operations across three critical domains: undersea security, mine countermeasures, and subsea infrastructure monitoring.
The field exercise completed in August at HII's Pocasset facility demonstrates the interoperability potential that defense contractors increasingly prioritize. For naval customers, particularly NATO and allied forces, this collaboration offers enhanced capabilities without the integration challenges that typically accompany multi-vendor solutions.
This partnership leverages the complementary strengths of both companies - Thales as the world's leading exporter of naval sonar systems and HII's established REMUS platform that has become an industry benchmark. The modular design of the REMUS 620 specifically allows for seamless integration of advanced sensor packages like the SAMDIS 600, enabling sophisticated underwater reconnaissance capabilities.
From a strategic perspective, this collaboration positions both companies to better address growing demands for autonomous underwater systems in an era where naval forces face evolving undersea threats. The multi-aspect and high-resolution synthetic aperture capabilities of the integrated system specifically address the complex challenge of mine detection and classification, which remains one of the most persistent maritime security concerns for naval operations worldwide.
LONDON, Sept. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HII (NYSE: HII) and Thales today announced the successful integration and field exercise of the Thales SAMDIS1 600 sonar with HII’s next generation REMUS 620 medium unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).
The integration demonstrates the seamless compatibility of Thales’ world-leading multi-aspect synthetic aperture SAMDIS 600 sonar with HII’s highly modular, long-endurance REMUS 620 UUV. Together, the systems deliver advanced autonomous mine detection, classification, and imaging, offering naval forces and partners around the world enhanced capability for undersea security, mine countermeasures, and subsea infrastructure monitoring.
The exercise, completed at the end of August at the HII Pocasset facility (Massachusetts, USA), marks a major milestone in advancing autonomous undersea mine countermeasure capabilities.
An image accompanying this release is available at: http://hii.com/news/thales-and-hii-partners-to-develop-advanced-autonomous-undersea-mine-countermeasure-capabilities.
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1 Synthetic Aperture Mine Detection and Imaging System
“Teaming the Thales’ advanced SAMDIS 600 sensor in the REMUS 620 underscores the power of collaboration in driving innovation for our customers,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of Mission Technologies’ Unmanned Systems business group. “This milestone demonstrates not only the adaptability of the REMUS 620 but also the strength of industry partnerships in delivering next-generation, interoperable solutions that enhance undersea dominance for NATO and allied forces.”
“SAMDIS empowers missions with enhanced efficiency and effectiveness, serving as a crucial enabler for precise acoustic identification through its multi-aspect and high-resolution SAS capabilities. This achievement is the result of a strong working relationship with HII, demonstrating the strength of industry collaboration in delivering advanced solutions for the benefit of our users' missions," said Paul Armstrong, managing director, Underwater Systems, Thales in the United Kingdom.
HII and Thales’ collaboration builds on decades of leadership in unmanned and underwater systems. Thales is the world’s leading exporter of naval sonar systems, while HII’s REMUS UUV family has become the benchmark for modular, reliable, and mission-ready autonomous undersea vehicles.
About HII
HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HII’s mission is to deliver the world’s most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.
As the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit:
- HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/
- HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII
- HII on X: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII
- HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII
About the REMUS UUV
The REMUS UUV family delivers critical advantages across modern naval operations and the autonomous systems have been proven to operate independently or in conjunction with crewed platforms. This includes the recent successful demonstration of the launch and recover of REMUS autonomous undersea vehicles from the torpedo tubes of Virginia-class nuclear submarines. This capability will significantly extend mission range, reduce detection risk, and limit personnel exposure.
The REMUS open-architecture design allows rapid payload integration, enabling mission-specific configurations and future tech insertions, key factors in maintaining operational relevance and cost efficiency over time.
To date, HII has sold more than 700 REMUS vehicles to over 30 countries, including 14 NATO members. Notably, over
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.
The Group invests more than
Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of
About Thales SAMDIS Sonar
Thales’ Synthetic Aperture Mine Detection and Imaging Sonar (SAMDIS) is an operationally proven, ultra-high-resolution, multi-view Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) system that delivers market-leading constant resolution at range, including co-registered bathymetric data. Its unique multi-view capability provides three independent high-resolution views (+30°, 0°, -30°) of a contact in a single pass, offering the critical aspect change needed for accurate seabed contact classification. SAMDIS’ market-leading SAS performance ensures superior mission effectiveness, while the multi-view mode enhances mission efficiency by reducing false alarm rates, minimizing time-consuming interventions, increasing overall mission tempo.
Featuring a modular design, SAMDIS can be integrated with a wide range of vehicles, offering configurable array sizes to optimize performance according to vehicle speed. The system is available in a range of depth-rated options, including deep water. All SAMDIS configurations provide full-resolution data in real-time onboard the vehicle, requiring no post-processing to achieve full resolution. This capability supports enhanced embedded Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) and advanced operating modes, such as circular SAS (C-SAS).
Thales has delivered over 30 SAMDIS systems, with more than 50 on order, to navies including those of the UK, France, Japan, and an Asian Country. These systems meet diverse operational requirements, enabling efficient and effective mine hunting in complex and challenging environments.
| Contacts: | |
| HII Greg McCarthy +1 (202) 264-7126 gregory.j.mccarthy@hii-co.com | Thales Camille Heck +33 (0)6 73 78 33 63 camille.heck@thalesgroup.com |
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1a420115-a134-4bc7-a5fb-d17086f7d328
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