Drone production ramping up to "increase lethality" of the Royal Navy and HMS Prince of Wales by using new kit

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is pushing for more autonomous equipment to be used on Royal Navy operations - something the force is already pressing on with. Billions of pounds of planned spending was set out in the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday (June 2).

Defence Secretary John Healey said: “We will invest in technology to give our troops the edge in the battlefields of the future; transforming our Armed Forces and boosting our warfighting readiness. This will increase our lethality, provide a powerful deterrent to our adversaries, and put the UK at the leading edge of innovation in NATO.

“We will back UK business to innovate at a war time pace; creating highly skilled jobs and fast-tracking the weapons of tomorrow into the hands of our warfighters, as part of our Government’s Plan for Change.”

The Royal Navy will be moving to towards a mix of crewed, un-crewed, and increasingly autonomous capabilities to secure the North Atlantic for the UK and NATO. At least of 10 per cent of the MoD’s budget will now be spent on drones and new technologies, with government committing to spending £5bn on new drone and laser weapons.

Mr Healey is expected to join defence ministers from Canada, Denmark, Norway and Poland ahead of the UK joining the UK-led NATO Flight Training Europe project. This will deliver a network of training campuses to train pilots for jet fighters, helicopters, and transport aircraft.

Focusing on drones is part of the British plans to create a “hybrid” Royal Navy fleet, with aircraft carriers HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth at the centre of this. The flagship is currently leading the UK Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG) on Operation Highmast - an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. Drones are being used on carrier operations for the first time, transporting cargo between vessels.

As part of a Hybrid Combat Air Wing, F-35B fighter jets will be complemented with autonomous collaborative platforms in the air and drones.