Thales unveils AI-enabled Expeditionary PathMaster for rapid, anywhere mine countermeasures missions
New Delhi, March 26. French defence technology major Thales has introduced Expeditionary PathMaster, a new expeditionary mine countermeasures (MCM) system designed to allow naval forces to conduct full-spectrum mine warfare missions from virtually any location in the world.
At the heart of the system is an innovative expeditionary Portable Operations Centre (e-POC), enabling navies to deploy mine countermeasures capabilities from shore, rigid inflatable boats, mine hunters or other maritime platforms without relying on fixed infrastructure. The system is engineered to support both expeditionary and amphibious operations, offering rapid deployment to safeguard critical sea lanes and maritime infrastructure.
Originally developed for and delivered to the Marine Nationale, Expeditionary PathMaster is built as a scalable and interoperable solution. It combines manned platforms with autonomous and remotely operated systems, and can integrate third-party assets such as autonomous unmanned vessels (AUVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and conventional mine hunting ships.
Thales has already demonstrated the system’s flexibility during trials with the Lithuanian Navy, where the e-POC successfully integrated external unmanned systems into a unified mine countermeasures operation.
The company’s long-standing expertise in mine warfare underpins the new system. With over five decades of experience in the domain, Thales’ solutions enable navies to detect, classify, locate, identify and, if required, neutralise underwater mines in complex maritime environments in real time.
A key differentiator of Expeditionary PathMaster is the integration of advanced artificial intelligence through Thales’s cortAIx AI accelerator. The Mi-Map sonar analysis application processes sonar data up to four times faster than traditional tools, achieving 99 percent accuracy in object classification. The M-Cube mission management system uses AI to coordinate multiple parallel sonar analysis sessions, providing real-time tracking of progress and detected threats.
Thales also highlighted its track record in delivering cyber-secure autonomous drone systems already in operational service with the French Navy and the Royal Navy, with the Republic of Singapore Navy also selecting its systems.
Sebastien Gueremy, Vice President of Underwater Systems at Thales, said the growing contestation of maritime spaces has made mine countermeasures a critical capability for ensuring the security of sea lines of communication and national infrastructure. He described Expeditionary PathMaster as a modular, AI-powered, turnkey solution that brings digital transformation and greater use of unmanned systems to modern navies.
With the launch of Expeditionary PathMaster, Thales positions itself at the forefront of cyber-secure, hybrid manned-autonomous mine warfare, offering navies a ready-to-deploy system to address emerging underwater threats.
