Minehunters which are a familiar sight on the Clyde will be replaced by uncrewed vessels, a Ministry of Defence review has announced.
The Sandown-class vessels have been based at Faslane for decades, but will be phased out under the Ministry of Defence command paper ‘Defence in a Competitive Age‘.
The Royal Navy currently has six of the minehunters based on the Clyde, and a spokesperson confirmed today that they would be decommissioned, stressing that this would be a gradual process.
Asked about job losses, she said that the new, uncrewed vessels would still require personnel to operate them.
The command paper states: “In conjunction with the US, and other NATO Allies, the Royal Navy will continue to invest in underwater capabilities as this remains pivotal to protect our critical national infrastructure, safeguard maritime trade and maintain our underwater advantage.
“This will include delivering a safer, faster and automated mine hunting capability in partnership with France.
“The Royal Navy will retire Mine Counter Measures Vessels as these new capabilities come into service.”
Last August two new sister boats, Harrier and Hazard, were trialled on the Clyde by the Royal Navy.
They can operate in three modes – manually, remotely and autonomously, deploying either towed side scan sonar systems or autonomous underwater vehicles, surveying the seabed and looking for mines and other threats.
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