Royal Navy’s new squadron of drones set to hit the fleet

Three new flights or remotely-piloted drones have been created by navy experts and are ready to deploy to sea for the first time.

700X Naval Air Squadron, which is behind the development, will now introduce the new pieces of kit into warships at sea.

Having completed months of training on various systems, eight sailors at the squadron, based at RNAS Culdrose, have now come together to form the three flights, known as Phantom Flights A, B and C.

One extra member will join the team later in the year.

Each flight consists of a commander as well as an air engineering technician and naval airman who each serve as remote-pilots.

The system they will take to sea, known as Puma, can be launched directly from a ship. It consists of a light-weight airframe but has sophisticated cameras and flight system.

Commander Tim Flatman, the commander of the fixed-wing force at Culdrose, handed over certificates to the members of the new flights on the completion of their training.

He said: ‘It was just over a year ago that the gauntlet was laid down to send a deployable capability to sea.

‘The fact that we are on the brink of achieving it despite the recent challenges is truly outstanding.’

The news comes as the Senior Service continue to ramps up its effort to introduce new, unmanned tech into the fleet.