European navies shift toward autonomous mine warfare systems

European naval powers, including the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy, are transitioning toward autonomous mine warfare systems controlled by motherships. Key ongoing programs include the Dutch-Belgian City-class MOSHIP, the Italian CNG-C/NMG-C MOSHIP, and the Anglo-French MMCM/SLAM-F.

This technological shift is leading to the decommissioning of older traditional mine countermeasures (MCM) vessels, such as the Tripartite, Hunt, and Lerici/Gaeta classes. As these older ships are retired by major naval powers, they are becoming available to third-party nations, including Bulgaria, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Greece. Despite being 35 to 40 years old, many of these vessels remain functional due to their glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) construction, which resists marine environments.

In Greece, the current mine warfare fleet consists of the American-built Osprey-class vessel ‘Eunike’ and the British-designed Hunt-class vessel ‘Evropi’, both of which were part of transfers in the early 2000s.