ECA Group, subsidiary of Groupe Gorgé, has been awarded a new contract for the delivery of two man portable Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) A9-M for an amount over EUR 1 million (USD 1.13 million).

The A9-M will join a NATO Navy, ECA Group wrote in a press release.

This AUV solution is designed for underwater survey and in particular for the Mine Counter Measure operations in shallow and medium water.

A9 can be used as a standalone system with its own mission management software, ECA wrote.

It can also be integrated in a more comprehensive robotic system able to fulfill all the Mine Counter Measures operations. This MCM robotic package, fully developed by ECA Group, combines:

- A9-M AUV for high performance Mine detection and classification,

- SEASCAN MK2 ROV for Mine Identification,

- K-STER C for Mine neutralization,

- UMIS (Unmanned Mine Counter Measure Information System): a Mission management system dedicated to MCM.

The Group pointed out that two contracts for protecting ships against underwater mines were won in Asia by the Robotics and Embedded Systems division of ECA Group. These two contracts, totaling in the region of €25 million, will be fulfilled in 2016 and 2017.