Emerging Trends in Naval Mining Capabilities

Although mines using decades-old technology—some of it from the First and Second World Wars—remain menacing, several broad technological trends are likely to enhance the threat from naval mines in the next few decades. In this article, we begin by briefly characterising traditional naval mines and mine countermeasures. We then describe the impact of two broad sets of technological trends that can reshape mine warfare in the next 10–20 years, and have already begun to do so. One is the growing capabilities of un-crewed (sometimes termed unmanned) vehicles, and the other is a combination of enhanced sensors, algorithms, and networks.