https://www.navylookout.com/first-se...ransformation/
First Sea Lord sets very ambitious targets for Royal Navy transformation
The new First Sea Lord, General Gwyn Jenkins, used his opening address at DSEI 2025 to set out an uncompromising plan to move the Royal Navy to full war-fighting readiness within four years. He stressed that the era of incremental change is over and that taut delivery timelines must drive every programme from now on.…..
The vision is the creation of a hybrid fleet of crewed, uncrewed and autonomous systems, digitally connected but widely dispersed. These kinds of concepts have been around for a decade or so, but Jenkins seems to be genuinely pushing harder for a force that will be
“uncrewed wherever possible, crewed only where necessary”, a strategic shift designed to generate mass at scale without waiting for traditional, long-cycle warship builds.
Speaking about the Type 26 frigate, he said
: “It is the most advanced anti-submarine frigate in the world, a truly world-leading ship with a highly trained and most effective crew. But it will not be alone. It is sailing in company with two uncrewed escorts who are using AI to work in tandem with the warship. Together, they provide a three-ship task group in their own right. The escorts will protect the parent ship, adding to its sensors, weapons, and decoy capabilities. Because they have no crew, the escorts are not complex vessels. They are easy to produce at scale, and even easier to configure to specific mission requirements as the task demands. If this sounds fanciful, it is not. It is my aim to have the first of our uncrewed escort ships sailing alongside our Royal Navy warships within the next two years.”
In the air, the carrier air wing is promised to be transformed before the decade ends into a fusion of crewed and uncrewed platforms. The first step will be the launch of a “
jet-powered collaborative drone” demonstrator from a Queen Elizabeth-class carrier as soon as 2026. He did not elaborate on which aircraft this might be and the implications for launch and recovery. Achieving this would mark the UK out as a NATO leader in maritime uncrewed aviation.
The underwater environment is also to be reshaped by the ‘Atlantic Bastion’, a new concept aimed at building a defensive shield stretching from the mid-Atlantic to the Norwegian Sea. A network of crewed and uncrewed systems will be able to find, track and, if needed, attack hostile submarines, multiplying the effect of existing boats, ships and aircraft. The first sensors as part of Project CABOT for this system are expected to be in the water within a year.
Partnership with Norway will deepen further. The UK has not just sold 5 frigates to Norway but will create a joint interoperable
“13-frigate force” to patrol the High North and Atlantic. Norwegian sailors will be aboard HMS Glasgow when she first puts to sea and Norway may also join the Atlantic Bastion construct…….
Delivering these capabilities on time will require a parallel cultural transformation. The First Sea Lord confirmed that within 100 days, new leadership assessment tools will be trialled across the service, ensuring that those who inspire, motivate and deliver outcomes are promoted quickly. Training is also to be overhauled to equip sailors and marines with the skills needed for modern maritime warfare.
The message to industry was urgency. The General was emphatic that this is not a distant aspiration but a programme already underway and dependent on close collaboration with industry. Innovation, speed and agility are to be the watchwords, with the Navy seeking to simplify processes and remove barriers that have slowed progress in the past. Industry, large and small, has been offering solutions to many of these requirements for some years but has often been frustrated by bureaucracy, endless rounds of ‘market engagement’ and a lack of firm commitment or funding to convert aspiration into reality…….