UK Navy buys 20 USVs to act as unmanned ‘proving ground’

LONDON — As the safety of sea lanes comes into dramatic focus with Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy recently announced it’s purchasing a new fleet of unmanned surface vessels designed in part to “keep sailors safe on global deployments.”

On Wednesday the navy said it would buy 20 K3 Scout Medium USVs made by Kraken Technology Group to be used by the Coastal Forces Squadron and 47 Commando Royal Marines “for operations, training and development activities to set the foundation for further uses of autonomous uncrewed technology.”

The move is part of the navy’s larger Project Beehive, which aims to deliver a “platform to act as a proving ground for future hybrid navy technologies while also providing an immediate operational capability,” the Royal Navy announcement said.

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Whether such an “immediate operational capability” could include a deployment, say to the Strait of Hormuz to aid in mine clearing as part of US-Israeli operations against Iran, is unclear. Referring to the Beehive contract, Second Sea Lord Vice Adm. Paul Beattie described how the concept could see the “Beehive capability operate alongside existing crewed and uncrewed systems such as the mine hunting capability.”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson declined to comment on any potential operational deployments.

“For operational security reasons specific payloads will not be discussed.  However, the flexibility of the K3 allows rapid integration of a large number of different payloads; this will provide operational flexibility for the [Royal Navy],” the spokesperson said.

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“The K3 Scout can be operated over Beyond Visual Line of Sight Communications Systems or on local mesh networks. This provides a flexible approach to allow independent operations or operations in company with crewed units. The craft will be operable from the mission bays of Type 31, Type 26 and other platforms allowing choice of capability for the operational commander,” the spokesperson added.

Kraken, too, declined to comment on any potential deployment to the Middle East.

Measuring 8.4 meters (27.5 feet) in length and with maximum displacement of 2,500 kg (5,511 lbs.), the K3 Medium USV is a low-signature craft capable of travelling at speeds up to 55 knots as far as 650 nautical miles. The USV can carry a 600 kg payload with capacity to be repurposed for multiple mission sets including “logistics, search and rescue, survey, ISR, strike or kinetic” operations, according to the company’s website.

“Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel are already under training and we will have an exceptionally capable USV operational in the next few months,” the announcement said.

To date, Kraken has participated in a variety of MoD and NATO exercises as well as US Special Operations Command innovation cycles. On Nov. 25, Kraken was awarded an OTA by the US SOCOM, worth up to 49 million USD, focused on its surface/sub-surface uncrewed system, K4 Manta.

The Royal Navy’s move towards USV technology follows the First Sea Lord Gen. Sir Gwyn Jenkins’ speech at the DSEI expo in London last September in which he said the service will be “reimagined” into a “new hybrid navy [featuring] a dispersed but digitally connected fleet of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous platforms that will redefine maritime military power.”