Support Equipment

PAP 104

Also known as
  • PAP-104
  • Poisson Auto Propulse
  • Poisson Auto-Propulse
  • Poisson Auto Propulse 104
  • PAP Mk 5
  • PAP Mark 5
  • ECA PAP
  • ECA Group PAP 104

The PAP 104 is a French ECA/Exail self-propelled mine-disposal ROV from the PAP, or Poisson Auto Propulse, family. Mine-countermeasure ships used the cable-linked vehicle to inspect suspect contacts, place an explosive charge near a mine, and withdraw before detonation, making this page a relationship-only support record for shipboard mine-warfare systems rather than a standalone conflict-use entry.

PAP 104, Self-propelled mine-disposal remotely operated vehicle, Support Equipment
Image source: Cassiopee M642 PAP-104 Wikimedia Commons Photo
Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
France
Built by
Exail
Type
Self-propelled mine-disposal remotely operated vehicle
Service note
Cold War mine-countermeasure service and later
Designer
ECA Group
Designed
1970
Produced
1970s-2000s

Specifications

Role
Mine identification and neutralization by placing an explosive charge near a target mine
Operating domain
Naval mine countermeasures
Control
Cable-linked remote control from a minehunter, with operator guidance by camera imagery and joystick
Power
Rechargeable onboard electric battery
Communications
Thin cable unwound from the vehicle for operator control and video link
Operating depth
Up to 300 m for the PAP family in Exail mine-disposal material
Standoff distance
Several hundred meters from the launching ship in Exail mine-disposal material
Mine charge
Single placed explosive charge; vehicle recovered and reloaded after withdrawal
Moored-mine equipment
Explosive cutters for mooring wires
Signature reduction
Low magnetic and acoustic signature
Length
3.2 m for PAP Mark 5 / PAP-104 in secondary specification source
Width
1.2 m for PAP Mark 5 / PAP-104 in secondary specification source
Height
1.3 m for PAP Mark 5 / PAP-104 in secondary specification source
Loaded weight
890 kg including a 130 kg mine-disposal charge in secondary specification source
Mine Neutralization Method

PAP 104 belongs to the older reusable mine-disposal ROV pattern. Exail's white paper describes a shipboard operator guiding the vehicle by camera and cable link, placing a charge near the mine, and recovering the vehicle before the charge is detonated from a safe distance.

Operator link

A thin cable unwound from the vehicle carried control and video signals, while onboard battery power avoided a heavy power umbilical.

Mine approach

The vehicle used camera guidance, low magnetic and acoustic signature, and a guide rope to work near suspect bottom or moored mines.

Disposal step

PAP placed a single explosive charge, withdrew for recovery and reload, and could use explosive cutters against moored-mine wires.

Replacement logic

Exail presents expendable minekillers such as K-Ster as a later answer to the older PAP method's recovery and single-charge limits.

Sources: Exail Underwater Mines Disposal White Paper; Exail Mine Countermeasures.

Variants

PAP sources use family and mark names together. The catalog page uses PAP 104 as the public identity while noting Mark 3 and Mark 5 fits where carrier sources identify them.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
PAP Mk 3Earlier ship-carried mine-disposal ROV

Naval News describes Hunt-class vessels as originally fitted with two ECA Group PAP 104 Mk3 vehicles.

Sources: British Shipyard to Regenerate ex-Royal Navy MCM Vessel for Lithuania

PAP Mk 5PAP-104 mine-disposal ROV

Forecast International documents Sandown-class minehunters with two PAP 104 Mk 5 vehicles, and Deagel identifies PAP Mark 5 as PAP-104.

Sources: Sandown Class - Archived 2/2003, PAP - Deagel

Carrier Minehunters

PAP 104 was ship-carried mine-disposal equipment used from specialist mine-countermeasure vessels rather than an independently deployed weapon.

CarrierCarrier typeCarriage evidence
Tripartite class minehunter, Minehunter class, Naval SystemsTripartite class minehunterTripartite minehunter

French CMT/Tripartite minehunters are documented with two PAP 104 self-propelled submersibles for mine destruction.

Sources: Chasseurs de mines tripartite - French Ministry of Armed Forces, CHASSEURS DE MINES TRIPARTITES CMT

Sandown class, Single-role minehunter, Naval SystemsSandown classSingle-role minehunter

Forecast International documents the Sandown class with two PAP 104 Mk 5 remote mine-disposal vehicles.

Sources: Sandown Class - Archived 2/2003

Hunt class mine countermeasure vessel, Mine countermeasures vessel class, Naval SystemsHunt class mine countermeasure vesselMine countermeasures vessel

Naval News describes Hunt-class vessels as originally equipped with two ECA Group PAP 104 Mk3 remotely controlled mine-disposal vehicles; later service fits may differ.

Sources: British Shipyard to Regenerate ex-Royal Navy MCM Vessel for Lithuania

Shipboard Carrier Context

PAP 104 should not inherit conflicts from the minehunters that carried it. The source base here supports equipment relationships: French CMT/Tripartite minehunters carried two PAP 104 vehicles, Forecast International documents Sandown-class PAP 104 Mk 5 carriage, and Hunt-class evidence is historical because later operator fits may use SeaFox or K-Ster instead.

Timeline

PAP 104 Key Events

  1. PAP lineage created

    Exail Technologies history identifies the original PAP as a 1970 ECA mine-disposal submarine drone for the French Navy.

    Sources: Exail Technologies History

  2. Belgian and Dutch commercial success

    Exail Technologies says PAP achieved its first commercial success with Belgian and Dutch navies in 1974.

    Sources: Exail Technologies History

  3. First French Navy deliveries

    Naval Today reported that ECA delivered the first PAP mine-disposal vehicles to the French Navy in 1977.

    Sources: ECA Group Secures French Navy PAP Demining ROV Contract

  4. French Navy consumables contract

    ECA received a five-year French Ministry of Armed Forces contract for PAP ROV consumables, with the older vehicles expected to remain active until replacement by later mine-countermeasure systems.

    Sources: ECA Group Secures French Navy PAP Demining ROV Contract

Media

PAP 104 Videos

PAP 104 Images

PAP 104, Self-propelled mine-disposal remotely operated vehicle, Support Equipment - view 1
Source: M-06 Talivaldis PAP-104 Wikimedia Commons Photo
Related Weapon Systems
Tripartite class minehunter, Minehunter class, Naval SystemsNaval SystemsTripartite class minehunterMinehunter classThe Tripartite class is a Franco-Belgian-Dutch minehunter family built around low-magnetic composite hulls, precise minehunting propulsion, hull sonar, divers, and remote mine-disposal vehicles. The French Éridan, Dutch Alkmaar, and Belgian Flower/Aster branches gave NATO navies a common Cold War mine-countermeasures design, later exported or transferred to Pakistan, Indonesia, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. French ships are documented clearing Iraqi mines off Kuwait in the 1990 Gulf War, while Belgian and Dutch Tripartite-family boats were transferred to Ukraine during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War for maritime security and future Black Sea mine clearance.
105 mm Mle 53 high-explosive shell, 105 mm high-explosive howitzer shell, MunitionsMunitions105 mm Mle 53 high-explosive shell105 mm high-explosive howitzer shellThe 105 mm Mle 53, formally OE Mle 53 in French artillery-history sources, was the 16 kg high-explosive shell defined for the postwar 105 mm Mle 50 howitzer family. It gave the TF50 and related AMX-105 artillery a documented 14.5 km high-explosive range, but this page remains a relationship-only ammunition record because the reviewed sources identify the shell as Mle 50 ammunition rather than separately naming Mle 53 rounds in a specific conflict.

Sources

NATO Mine Countermeasures ReferencePublisher: NATO Archives | Note: Supports PAP 104 mine-countermeasure context and remotely operated mine-disposal role. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Exail Mine CountermeasuresPublisher: Exail | Note: Supports the PAP mine-countermeasures lineage, ECA/Exail manufacturer context, the Poisson Auto Propulse name, broad production/export context, and later Exail minekiller replacement logic. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Exail Underwater Mines Disposal White PaperPublisher: Exail | Note: Supports PAP operating method, cable-linked control, onboard battery, mine-charge placement, moored-mine cutter context, operating-depth statement, and limitations of reusable single-charge ROVs. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Exail Technologies HistoryPublisher: Exail Technologies | Note: Supports ECA's 1970 PAP development for the French Navy, the 1974 Belgian and Dutch commercial milestone, broader PAP sales context, and Exail's ECA/iXblue corporate lineage. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Chasseurs de mines tripartite - French Ministry of Armed ForcesPublisher: Ministere des Armees et des Anciens combattants | Note: Supports Tripartite/CMT minehunter context and the official French Navy statement that the class carried two PAP 104 self-propelled submersibles for mine destruction. | Accessed: 2026-07-13CHASSEURS DE MINES TRIPARTITES CMTPublisher: Centre d'Analyse et d'Information Aeronautiques | Note: Supports Tripartite/CMT program context, ECA PAP 104 mine-disposal fit, and PAP 104 identification and neutralization role. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Tripartite Minehunter - Archived 11/2001Publisher: Forecast International | Note: Supports Tripartite minehunter carriage of two PAP 104 vehicles and the mothership-controlled mine-destruction sequence. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Sandown Class - Archived 2/2003Publisher: Forecast International | Note: Supports Sandown-class carriage of two PAP 104 Mk 5 remote mine-disposal vehicles. | Accessed: 2026-07-13British Shipyard to Regenerate ex-Royal Navy MCM Vessel for LithuaniaPublisher: Naval News | Note: Supports Hunt-class original PAP 104 Mk3 fit and cautions that later regenerated service may use a different mine-disposal system. | Accessed: 2026-07-13ECA Group Secures French Navy PAP Demining ROV ContractPublisher: Naval Today | Note: Supports ECA PAP French Navy delivery history, the 2017 French consumables contract, and replacement timing context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13PAP - DeagelPublisher: Deagel | Note: Secondary specialist source for exact PAP Mark 5 / PAP-104 dimensions, weight, charge, depth, and designation context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Cassiopee M642 PAP-104 Wikimedia Commons PhotoPublisher: Wikimedia Commons / MKFI | Note: Supports the public-domain primary image of a PAP-104 remote operated vehicle aboard or associated with the French minehunter Cassiopee. | Accessed: 2026-07-13M-06 Talivaldis PAP-104 Wikimedia Commons PhotoPublisher: Wikimedia Commons / MKFI | Note: Supports the public-domain gallery image showing two PAP-104 remote mine-hunting vehicles on the Latvian minehunter M-06 Talivaldis. | Accessed: 2026-07-13