Kraken warns patchwork won’t cover the High North

Kraken Technology Group has warned that covering the High North effectively will require significant mass rather than a patchwork approach, in written evidence to the Defence Committee’s Defence in the High North inquiry, arguing that persistent monitoring of the GIUK Gap requires enough uncrewed vessels to cover the entire operating area.

The British company, which was recently awarded a £12.3 million contract to deliver 20 vessels to the Royal Navy’s Surface Flotilla under Project Beehive, said it strongly supported the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Bastion concept and its focus on integrating autonomous systems into UK maritime capability, describing the pivot to a Hybrid Navy as the right approach to reducing risk to human crews in hostile environments. However it was clear that the scale of the task demanded genuine mass, saying “a patchwork approach will not be sufficient” and that persistent monitoring required “enough mass to cover the entire operating area.”

The characteristics that make uncrewed surface vessels compelling, including modularity, autonomous operation, reduced human risk and affordability at scale, are relevant across all maritime theatres, Kraken told the committee. The company pointed to recent events in the Middle East as underlining that these requirements were not unique to the High North, with similar needs arising in the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean. Its K3 SCOUT was described as payload-defined and truly modular, with the same hull re-roled according to theatre or mission “without changing the underlying vessel.”

Harsh weather, icing, fog and degraded communications place additional demands on platforms intended for the High North, and Kraken acknowledged that capabilities for the region required appropriate hardening. The company said its vessels were designed to manage high sea states and remain operational when weather deteriorated rather than sheltering in harbours, and that where required they could be fitted with an extended climate kit including de-icing integrated into the deck lay-up and cooling for engine bay components in extreme conditions.

The UK’s High North strategy aligns strongly with the government’s economic priorities, Kraken argued, saying that generating uncrewed mass strengthened the UK’s industrial base and that its systems had strong export potential globally. The ability to re-role platforms across theatres through different payloads was described as improving both value for money and export potential, particularly where interoperable allied requirements created demand across partner nations.

Founded in 2020, Kraken has undergone trials with the MoD, demonstrated with NATO Task Force-X in the Baltic and been awarded a $49 million contract from US Special Operations Command. Alongside the K3 SCOUT, the company produces the K4 MANTA uncrewed surface-subsurface delivery platform and the K5 KRAKEN maritime precision engagement platform.