Overview
- In a keynote at the Combined Naval Event, First Sea Lord Gwyn Jenkins said the Navy will move from ever bigger ships to a distributed mix of crewed command vessels and uncrewed air, surface, and underwater systems.
- He confirmed £115 million for the first operational test in the Gulf that will use autonomous minehunting kits, specialist clearance teams, and added capability for the destroyer HMS Dragon.
- Kraken’s Beehive drone boats form part of the package, with 20 delivered and full operating capability targeted within 12 to 14 weeks for deployment to the Strait of Hormuz mission.
- Jenkins pressed for faster rules to trial autonomy, citing the Regulation for Growth Bill and a risk-based testing regime being drawn up by the Defence Maritime Regulator.
- Internal wargames showed a threefold jump in missile capacity under the distributed model, a result now putting expensive projects such as the Type 83 air-defence concept and the MRSS under fresh review.