In November last year, after four years from keel laying to final outfitting, the first of the twelve rMCM drone carriers of the Belgian-Dutch City class arrived at its new home base in Zeebrugge. The ship's bell of the „Oostende“ (replacement MCM, 83 metres, 2,800 tonnes) heralded a new era of mine hunting - with networked USVs operating on and AUVs under water as well as ROVs as remote-controlled manipulation robots just above the seabed. This is now called „stand-off mine defence“ and is carried out in a signature and cyber-hardened manner, i.e. almost silently and unaffected by external interference. In return, the „Oostende“ is more than four times larger than the Tripartite-class minehunters, which can now be successively replaced.