Belgium’s Ministry of Defense has awarded Exail Robotics Belgium a €9,866,476 contract for three TRIDENT mine-countermeasure systems intended to support Ukraine’s defense forces. The procurement is aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s ability to detect and dispose of naval mines using remotely operated and expendable systems.

Platforms for K-STER C operations

According to a notice published on Belgium’s e-Procurement platform, the contract was formally awarded on September 14, 2026, and will be executed over 24 months. The three TRIDENT platforms are intended to deploy and support Exail’s K-STER C expendable mine-disposal system.

TRIDENT is identified in the procurement material as standing for Tactical RHIB for Identification and Disposal of Explosive Naval Threats. The systems are therefore being acquired as platforms for mine-countermeasure work, rather than as standalone mine-disposal weapons. Their stated role is to provide the operational support needed to employ the K-STER C system against naval mines.

Urgency and procurement procedure

The award was made through a negotiated procedure without prior competition. The procurement notice cited the urgency of the Ukrainian crisis and the protection of exclusive intellectual-property rights as the justification for that procedure.

Exail Robotics Belgium did not comment when contacted by Naval News about the contract. Naval News sources indicated that the TRIDENT designation may correspond to Exail’s UMIS light product line. On that basis, the award could be connected to an earlier Exail announcement concerning a light, rapidly deployable mine-countermeasure system for a European navy, although the company has not publicly confirmed that link in the supplied material.

The Belgian procurement adds to international efforts to provide Ukraine with maritime mine-countermeasure assets. The systems are specifically intended to address the threat posed by floating and moored naval mines in operational areas, using a platform-and-disposal-system combination centered on the K-STER C.