As the RN begins the transition from crewed minehunters to autonomous systems, the first boat has been deployed to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. This is a small but significant step and much rests upon the success of this vessel in the operational environment.
In the last 12 months, a significant number of Royal Navy vessels have been retired. Funding shortfalls play a part but the situation is more complex than just cuts to save money. Here we look at the reasoning, the risks involved and the plans to replace the capabilities of these ships.
Under the Future Tactical Uncrewed Air System (FUTAS) programme, the RN has selected the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter which will operate in the intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance role, initially from warships based in the Persian Gulf. More
MSubs Ltd has been awarded a £15.4m contract to build the first XLUUV (Extra Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle) owned by the Royal Navy.More
On 29th October an attack was mounted on Russian Black Sea Fleet units using uncrewed boats and aircraft. Here we examine what is known about the events, the implications for the war in Ukraine and more widely for other navies.
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The Royal Navy’s new experimental trials vessel was formally named at a ceremony in Portsmouth on 29th July. In a follow-up to our previous article, we went onboard for a closer look and spoke with her Commanding Officer and head of NavyX.
The XV Patrick Blackett arrived in Portsmouth today. She has been bought for use by the NavyX programme as a platform for trials and experimentation with new technologies. Here we look at this vessel in detail.
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A lightweight towed array sonar developed by SEA has been successfully integrated and trialled with the Manta XLUUV. This combination of technologies has significant implications for anti-submarine warfare, seabed warfare and underwater surveillance capabilities.
The Royal Navy recently announced its ambitious vision for the future underwater domain, stating that it must leverage cutting edge technologies from industry, academia and the RN innovation ecosystem to accelerate and de-risk future capabilities. Here Thomas Rooney, Technical Sales Manager and Jonathan Davies, Chief Scientist, at Sonardyne consider the options.
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