Designed for Autonomy

The Royal Navy, like many Western fleets, faces a structural problem that has been building for decades. Warship numbers have declined as unit costs have risen, creating a force structure built around a small number of highly capable but scarce platforms. Fewer hulls mean reduced presence, less resilience to losses and limited ability to surge in a crisis. Meanwhile, personnel recruitment and retention are under growing strain, and the shipbuilding capacity of potential adversaries dwarfs that of the West.

The UK’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review confronted this reality, setting out a vision for a ‘hybrid navy’ in which crewed platforms are complemented – and in some roles replaced – by uncrewed and autonomous systems operating at scale. First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins has since framed this transition as existential, warning that