The UK Royal Navy is beginning to invest in naval autonomy with new facilities along the south coast of England, with a national centre for autonomy in Plymouth and a capability accelerator in Portsmouth.
Naval Technology first learned of the plans in a speech delivered by the Royal Navy Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Andrew Burns, at the Royal United Services Institute in London on 24 June 2025.
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“All these things need to be harnessed to deliver the mass we’re going to need”, Burns observed, referring to the utility of autonomous uncrewed systems as part of a hybrid force structure.
Likewise, the long-awaited Strategic Defence Review identified autonomy as an “immediate priority” for the conventional armed forces. At sea, authors of the report proposed the Atlantic Bastion concept to secure the North Atlantic Ocean. There are also plans to augment both Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers (albeit the first of the class remains in extended maintenance) into airwings for crewed and uncrewed platforms.
Under Project CABOT, announced in February this year, a vast network of uncrewed vehicles will perform anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions across the North Atlantic with advanced sensor systems.
Earlier in May 2025, the Royal Navy also unveiled its extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV) Excalibur at Devonport, where the system will function as a demonstrator with its advanced payload capacity.
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Centre of excellence
While there are few details of the responsibilities at both facilities beyond Burns’ description, another Royal Navy spokesperson confirmed that these elements constitute a new maritime centre of excellence.
“As the Royal Navy advances towards a hybrid navy by utilising the latest maritime technology at multiple sites, an opportunity exists to consolidate this autonomous activity into a maritime centre of excellence,” they said.
“We are developing plans for the design of the centre of excellence and further details will be set out in due course.”
It remains to be seen what an effective hybrid navy will look like. This requires more operational experience, research, leadership, training, and best practice. There are multiple concepts that can be employed, some of which are conflicting.
For example, one popular model among industry suppliers is the effect-focus that would sideline big, costly platforms for disaggregated capabilities. Raytheon UK has advocated for this type of force structure which, they say, enables cash-trapped governments like the UK. Other suppliers have even predicted the extinction of the classical surface combatant.
However, this model contrasts with a more conservative structure in which general purpose frigates serve as platforms for a new range of networked uncrewed vehicles and capabilities. This is demonstrated by the mission bay and handling system built into Type 31 and 26 frigates to enable these assets.
