- New MUSV test window (2027–2030) jeopardises the 2030 Type 9X rollout
- “Shore-based” control hints at limited autonomy
- May point to a green-water-only, reduced-scope hybrid fleet
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a pipeline notice outlining its intent to acquire a medium uncrewed surface vessel (MUSV) testbed platform, seemingly to test capabilities that appear aligned with the Type 9X USVs revealed in the recent Defence Investment Plan (DIP).
Deliverable by the end of FY2026/27, the MUSV testbed programme has a contract value of £10m ($13.4m) and is expected to operate in three configurations: standalone uncrewed operations from a shore-based remote operating centre, integrated operations alongside a mothership, or distributed multi-platform operations alongside other USVs.
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The MoD on 5 August stated typical mission profiles will include long-range transits to operating areas, persistent loiter operations with active payload use, and technology trials involving sensor, autonomy, and payload integration.
However, the timeline for the MUSV test programme runs from March 2027 to March 2030.
If the testbed MUSV is intended to trial sensors and payload capabilities for the Type 9X USVs – which are being developed instead of the planned Type 83 guided missile destroyers – then the 2030 timeframe for fielding a Type 91 arsenal ship USV and its Type 92, Type 93, and Type 94 cousins has already been blown out of the water, mere weeks after first being announced.
Stated in the UK DIP, at least £1.3bn will be invested into the development of a ‘hybrid fleet’, ultimately comprising uncrewed missile platforms (Type 91), uncrewed underwater sensor platforms (Type 92), extra-large uncrewed underwater vessels (XLUUV) (Type 93), uncrewed radar platforms (Type 94) and a future class of Common Combat Vessels (CCV).
This was part of a wider £5bn investment into autonomous system to “enable this transformation by 2030”, the DIP stated.
Further, the pipeline notice’s description of the testbed as being operable from a “shore-based remote operating centre” indicates a lack of autonomous capability, an essential requirement for the planned Type 9X USV fleet, operating alongside its crewed mothership, the CCV vessel.
Alternatively, the UK Government could be recognising that it is unable to develop both the Type 9X series of USVs and the CCV concurrently and thus has opted to limit the uncrewed systems to green-water operations only, rather than true oceanic blue-water capability.
Green-water operations typically see naval platforms patrol a country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which would be possible for Type 9X USVs that are controlled from shore-based facilities.
This in turn fits the withdrawal of the Royal Navy through multiple governments from its previous blue-water doctrine down to a local or regional power.
It was previously reported by Naval Technology that key technologies needed for the Type 91 arsenal ship USV, specifically its missile launch system, may not even exist yet in the market.
At the time of publishing, Naval Technology had not received any response from the UK MoD regarding the MUSV pipeline notice.
