French Safran and British MSI-DS Team Up on Counter-Drone Turret Systems for NATO Mine Warfare Ships

Safran Electronics & Defense and MSI-Defence Systems (MSI-DS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop and promote counter-drone turret systems pairing Safran’s stabilized optronic sights with MSI-DS’s SEAHAWK naval and TERRAHAWK land mounts for counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) missions, the companies announced on November 4, 2026. The Franco-British agreement already has a first customer: an unnamed European NATO navy has ordered SEAHAWK DS30M 30mm mounts fitted with Safran’s VIGEO sight for its mine countermeasure vessels, with deliveries scheduled for 2027.

The pairing targets a persistent gap in European forces: affordable, gun-based defense against small drones, loitering munitions and uncrewed surface vessels that are too numerous and too cheap to engage economically with missiles. For MSI-DS, the Norwich-based gunnery specialist whose systems serve more than 40 armed forces, the deal follows a run of European orders, including twelve DS30M systems for the German Navy’s four F128 frigates and a €19.4 million contract announced in August 2026 for three C-UAS-configured naval guns for an unnamed NATO country. Whether that order is the one now tied to Safran’s sights has not been disclosed.

How VIGEO Brings Counter-Drone Turret Systems to the SEAHAWK DS30M

Under the first contract, each SEAHAWK DS30M mount will carry VIGEO, a naval adaptation of Safran’s stabilized gunner sight. Mounted directly on the gun rather than on a separate mast director, VIGEO provides day and night target acquisition, laser ranging and fire control, giving each mount its own sensor head.

On land, VIGEO is an established product. Safran describes it as an ITAR-free gunner and commander sight with two-axis stabilization better than 0.1 milliradian rms, a cooled thermal imager, a TV channel, an eye-safe laser rangefinder and a laser pointer, with more than 1,000 units in service or on order, including the Multi Purpose Sight (MPS) variant on France’s VBCI infantry fighting vehicle. The maritime version’s sensor fit and detection ranges have not been published.

The DS30M is a mature mount. It has served with the Royal Navy since 2005, and MSI-DS lists 7.62mm and 12.7mm coaxial machine gun options for its SEAHAWK DS A2. That mount is also the basis of the US Navy’s Mk38 Mod 4, which pairs it with the Northrop Grumman Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm gun. MSI-DS has also completed live-fire counter-drone trials with 30mm airburst munitions from its lighter LW30M mount.

For a mine countermeasure vessel, the choice matters. These ships operate slowly and close to shore while hunting mines, exposing them to one-way attack drones and explosive uncrewed boats. A stabilized 30mm mount with its own fire control sight gives them an organic point-defense layer without a dedicated radar-directed system.

From VIGEO to Skyjacker: Safran’s Sight Portfolio for Land and Naval Guns

The MoU extends well beyond the first order. MSI-DS will be able to offer the full family of Safran sights across SEAHAWK and TERRAHAWK mounts, with PASEO and VIGY 4 named alongside VIGEO for counter-drone missions, integrated with kinetic or laser-guided effectors.

VIGY 4, launched at Euronaval in October 2022, combines a cooled mid-wave infrared thermal imager, a full-HD color camera, a short-wave infrared channel that sees through mist and fog, and an eye-safe laser rangefinder, and is designed to control light- and medium-caliber guns. Safran stated in 2024 that more than 600 VIGY units had been delivered to over 20 navies. The naval PASEO XLR sits at the top of the range, with long-range sensors, automatic tracking and an optional ballistic computer able to control several guns of different calibers at once.

The portfolio closes with Skyjacker, Safran’s electronic C-UAS system, which defeats drones through jamming or remote takeover, a soft-kill complement to the gun.

Alexandre Ziegler, head of Safran Electronics & Defense’s Defense Global Business Unit, said the platform-agnostic sights “bring real ISR capability to every gun they equip.”

Analysis: The agreement reflects how European navies are approaching the drone threat: rather than buying dedicated C-UAS platforms, they are giving the guns already planned for their ships better eyes. A gun-mounted, ITAR-free sight turns each 30mm position into an independent sensor and engagement node, which matters most for minor war vessels lacking a frigate’s radar and missile layers. Industrially, Safran gains a route onto SEAHAWK hulls and MSI-DS a broader sensor catalog, without a joint venture. The open question is integration depth: an MoU covering joint development and promotion does not yet imply shared fire control software or a common C-UAS architecture.

The next milestone is delivery of the first VIGEO-equipped DS30M mounts in 2027, followed by integration and acceptance trials aboard the customer’s vessels. Key unknowns remain the navy’s identity, the contract value, the number of ships and mounts covered, and whether a TERRAHAWK land application with Safran sights finds a customer.