Uncrewed missile ship prototype to join British fleet by 2030

A prototype uncrewed missile platform and extra-large uncrewed underwater vessels are intended to be in Royal Navy service by 2030, the Ministry of Defence has said, committing at least £1.5 billion over the next four years to begin delivering the Hybrid Navy.

The commitments came in written parliamentary answers from Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard on 10 July, responding to shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, who asked about the construction timelines, workforce requirements and funding shares of the Type 91, Type 92, Type 93 and Type 94 vessels and the Common Combat Vessel.

“Defence will invest at least £1.5 billion over the next four years to begin delivering the Hybrid Navy, including the integration of autonomous underwater, surface and airborne systems to deliver mass and persistence,” Pollard said. “By 2030, we aim to have brought the first large autonomous vessels into service, including a prototype uncrewed missile platform and extra-large uncrewed underwater vessels (XLUUVs), with payloads developed through AUKUS. The optimal breakdown of this £1.5 billion investment between different types of vessel will now be developed in consultation with industry.”

The £1.5 billion commitment is higher than the £1 billion figure referenced in Cartlidge’s question, and the funding split between the different vessels is yet to be settled, as are the programmes themselves, with the minister saying construction schedules and workforce requirements “will be determined as the programmes progress through their concept and assessment phases.” His answer confirmed that the Defence Investment Plan “set out the Royal Navy’s future approach to a family of autonomous and hybrid naval capabilities, including the Type 91, Type 92, Type 93 and Type 94 systems, alongside the Common Combat Vessel.” The family comprises the Type 91 uncrewed missile platforms, the Type 92 uncrewed underwater sensing platforms, the Type 93 extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicles and the Type 94 uncrewed sensor platforms, which will work alongside the Common Combat Vessels and the eight Type 26 and five Type 31 crewed frigates in what the plan describes as a once in a generation investment in new maritime capability.

The 2030 aim is interesting given the department’s separate statement, given the same day, that no service entry date has been set for the Type 91 as a class, with a prototype in the water preceding any formal decision on fleet introduction. The underwater element, corresponding to the Type 93, builds on ground the Royal Navy has already broken, having trialled the XV Excalibur extra-large uncrewed underwater vessel from Plymouth, and the reference to payloads developed through AUKUS matches the Defence Investment Plan’s identification of weapons and sensors for underwater drones as the signature project under the partnership’s second pillar with the United States and Australia.

The by-2030 milestone gives the hybrid fleet its first firm near-term marker, ahead of the six Common Combat Vessels intended to arrive as the Type 45 destroyers retire from the mid-2030s, and industry is already moving on both the platforms and their weapons, with the department having asked for missile silos able to remain ready to fire for 30 days unattended aboard uncrewed vessels, and Navantia UK setting out this week that its Appledore yard could build two large autonomous vessels concurrently and deliver two a year.

Where the Type 91 to 94 family will be built remains open, with the Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney urging the government this week to settle such questions by designating its core shipbuilding sites and awarding work directly to smooth demand across them.

What’s what?

Type 91 — uncrewed missile platform. The “missile barge” concept: an autonomous surface vessel carrying missile silos to add magazine depth to the fleet, part of the future maritime air defence and strike mix alongside the CCVs. A prototype is aimed to be in service by 2030, no class service entry date set. The May RFI for silos that can stay ready to fire for 30 days unattended aboard uncrewed vessels is almost certainly its enabling technology.

Type 92 — uncrewed underwater sensing platform. A submarine-hunting and underwater surveillance drone, the ASW and seabed-monitoring element of the family. Sits naturally with the undersea infrastructure protection push, though the MOD hasn’t detailed it beyond the designation, it’s likely to pull a towed array sonar and be a surface vessel.

Type 93 — extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV). The big autonomous submarine, building on the XV Excalibur trials from Plymouth, with payloads developed through AUKUS Pillar 2, which the DIP identifies as the partnership’s signature project. Also in the by-2030 first-vessels aim from Friday’s answer.

Type 94 — uncrewed sensor platform. The surface counterpart to the 92: an autonomous picket ship extending the fleet’s radar and sensor coverage, named alongside the Type 91 in the maritime air defence mix that replaces the Type 45’s role.