Royal Navy

When the first of the Royal Navy's Dreadnought-class nuclear missile submarines takes to the sea in this decade, the same fly-by-wire technology used in aircraft will be used to control all the major facets of the boat's maneuvering.

The Royal Navy is ready to begin operational training of its new Merlin "Crowsnest" Airborne Surveillance And Control (ASaC) helicopter as it prepares for the aircraft's first deployment aboard the supercarrier HMS Queen Elizabeth later this year.

The Royal Navy has officially received a new autonomous vessel. The Maritime Demonstrator For Operational eXperimentation (Madfox) will go through a year of testing by the Autonomy and Lethality Accelerator, NavyX, before entering regular service.

HMS Victory, which has been in dry dock for almost a century, is once again "afloat" – but not on the water. It is being supported by a high-tech system that mimics the pressure of the sea pushing against the vessel's hull and keel.

BAE Systems has won a US$4 million contract to supply the British Royal Navy with autonomous Pacific 24 (P24) boats. The P24 Unmanned is a 25.6 ft-long Rigid Inflatable Boat that can reach 38 knots and operate for 45 hours at patrol speed.

Britain's Royal Marines will be testing a new helmet-mounted video camera to provide them with real-time data for informing tactical decisions. The bespoke camera is based on a general purpose camera design, but has been hardened and weatherproofed.

Defense companies Leonardo and Thales have successfully tested the Martlet Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM). The missile being developed for the Royal Navy was fired during air trials from a Wildcat helicopter as part of the UK FASGW program.

The British government is investing up to £2.5 million (US$3.2 million) to begin the development for the Royal Navy of an extra-large autonomous submarine measuring 100 feet in length – making it larger than the Boeing Orca XLUUV.

The UK has announced that the Arrowhead 140 design will be the basis for the first of five general-purpose Type 31 frigates.

BAE Systems will demonstrate an unmanned surface vessel fully integrating with the combat systems of a Royal Navy warship for the first time.

Britain's armed forces take a look into the future with young engineers predicting what the Royal Marines in 2050 will look like.

Targeted at anti-piracy, border control, intelligence gathering and maritime security missions, the Pacific 950 is an autonomous boat that can operate alone for up to 10 days, or cover 300 nautical miles at pursuit speed. Its built-in stabilized 12.7-mm weapons system, however, is human-operated.