Arthur McMiler 
- The RMH contract also funds engineering services
- Contract options could bring the award’s potential value to about $196.2 million
- The RMH suite pairs towed synthetic aperture sonar with AI-assisted target recognition software
Advanced Acoustic Concepts, or AAC, a Thales subsidiary focused on undersea warfare, will build and deliver two remote mine hunting, or RMH, modules to the U.S. Navy under a $53.9 million contract that also funds engineering services, the company said Monday.
Options for more modules could raise the award’s potential value to approximately $196.2 million.
What Did Thales North America’s CEO Say About the Contract?
Rob Geckle, Thales North America CEO and a Wash100 Award winner, said AAC’s work on RMH will advance the Navy’s unmanned mine countermeasures and bolster fleet readiness as operating conditions evolve.
“The ability to counter undersea mine threats remains fundamental to maritime security and naval mission success,” he said.
Geckle took the helm of Thales USA and Thales North America on July 1, succeeding Alan Pellegrini.
What Will the RMH Modules Include?
Each RMH suite combines sonar, mission management software and remotely operated vehicles into one package. The primary sensor is a towed, multi-view synthetic aperture sonar.
The modules are also designed to run automatic target recognition software enhanced by artificial intelligence. Thales said the algorithms enable sailors to sort, classify and map mine-hunting data.
Mike Carnovale, AAC president, said the program draws mine warfare technologies from across the Thales portfolio and pairs them with his company’s record of fielding integrated undersea systems for the Navy.
“By integrating sonar, classification software and future remote neutralization capabilities into a single operational solution, we’re helping simplify mine hunting operations and accelerate the path from detection to action for both manned and unmanned surface vessel platforms,” Carnovale added.
How Does RMH Support Navy Mine Countermeasures?
The system is built to serve the Navy’s mine countermeasures, or MCM, mission through what Thales calls a “Find, Fix and Finish” method of defeating mines. Operators can pinpoint and identify submerged mines from a distance, an arrangement the company said lowers danger to crews and vessels in contested waters. The capability also supports unmanned MCM operations and quicker engagement of threats once they are found.
The award comes as the Navy works to broaden its unmanned and autonomous mine warfare options. In May, the service and the Defense Innovation Unit launched a prize challenge seeking commercially available autonomous systems that can locate and neutralize mines at standoff ranges and be fielded within six months.
How Is Thales Growing Its U.S. Defense Portfolio?
AAC operates under Thales Defense & Security Inc., or TDSI, which announced in July that it and its subsidiaries, including AAC, had earned enterprise-wide Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Level 2 status, allowing them to compete for Department of War contracts involving controlled unclassified information. Also in July, hardware security modules, or HSMs, from another TDSI unit, Thales Trusted Cyber Technologies, received Federal Information Processing Standards 140-3 Level 3 validation.
TDSI has also secured recent Army and Marine Corps orders. In June, the Army chose its Radio Adaptable Transport platform for the Low Cost Data Architecture communications effort and ordered more than 5,000 systems. In August, the Marine Corps ordered over 400 Minerva dual-band imagers for the personnel and command variants of its Amphibious Combat Vehicle.
