Royal Navy reveals future vision based on autonomous technology
The concept imagery shows a massive flying drone station based in the stratosphere
The Royal Navy has shown off its future vision, which could shape how the British fleet operates over the next 50 years.
The new vision is guided by a design challenge from UK Naval Engineering Science and Technology (UKNEST), which saw young engineers proposing innovative ideas for the Navy's future autonomous fleet.
Concept imagery shows an enormous flying drone station based in the stratosphere, an underwater flagship vessel, uncrewed attack crafts housing autonomous boats, and much more.
"In a future scenario if we find ourselves unable to compete traditionally in terms of mass, we must think differently if we are to regain operational advantage," Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Nick Hine said.
"The young engineers who worked on this project are thinking radically and with real imagination and reflects how the Royal Navy is thinking too."
The Navy's vision sees drones based in the stratosphere, which are capable of being launched at a moment's notice. It proposes setting up a flying drone station using a helium balloon, covered with a material that collects solar energy for power.
In another design, engineers proposed semi-submersible aircraft carriers that are propelled by both sea-based biofuels and wind power.
They also showeed concepts of a submarine capable of launching a large autonomous vessel equipped with 'hex block' drones. These drones would be built inside the ship itself and could be combined together to create larger structures to target enemy vessels.
Other ideas include underwater transport units that carry anything from weapons to food, and increasing the use of AI technology to support low-level planning.
Dr Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at RUSI told Sky News that some of the proposals are "eminently rational", while some others were "much more in the realm of very, very speculative thinking".
UKNEST young engineer Fiona McIntosh said the participants were "unconstrained in the ideas and technologies" they proposed, which helped them base their concept on technologies they thought "would be key to innovation over the coming decades" (the lack of any budgetary concerns probably helped, too).
"It was encouraging to see that the designs had some similar features and the groups had envisioned similar technologies being utilised by the future fleet. Hopefully we'll see some of our ideas incorporated into future platforms."
In March, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace outlined the 2030 vision for the country's armed forces, as part of the government's plan to further modernise and upgrade military capabilities.
The strategy, 'Defence in a Competitive Age,' came off the back of the government's 'Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy,' which has been called the largest foreign and security policy overhaul since the Cold War.
The 2030 vision proposes investing billions of pounds across the land, air, sea, cyber and space domains, to enable fast responses to equally swift changes in the field.
As part of the plan, the Defence Department has proposed to spend more than £85 billion on equipment over the next four years.
The British Army will receive an additional £3 billion to spend on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), long-range rocket systems, new vehicles, air defence systems, cyber capabilities and electronic warfare.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK needs to advance its cyber capabilities, to ensure that threats from adversaries in cyber space are "thwarted at every turn".
The UK spent £38 billion on defence in 2019, or about 2.1 per cent of GDP. This was more than any other European country, though far below the 3.5 per cent of GDP spent by the USA.