No numbers yet for Navy’s giant uncrewed submarines

The Ministry of Defence has yet to determine how many Type 93 extra-large uncrewed underwater vessels it will build for the Royal Navy, though its answer confirms the giant autonomous submarines remain within the Atlantic Bastion programme, the effort to hold the North Atlantic against Russian underwater activity.

The position was set out by Defence Minister Luke Pollard in a written answer to Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who asked how many of the vessels the department intends to build. “The Defence Investment Plan announced the development of Type 92 uncrewed underwater sensing platforms and Type 93 extra-large uncrewed underwater vessels as part of the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Bastion programme, part of the Hybrid Navy strategy. The number of platforms to be procured, and the construction schedules for those platforms, have not yet been determined. Detailed requirements will be considered as the programme progresses through its concept and assessment phases,” Pollard said, as quoted in the answer.

While the absence of numbers matches the pattern across this week’s answers on Hybrid Navy platforms, the framing carries a detail worth noting, placing both the Type 92 sensing platforms and the Type 93 within Atlantic Bastion specifically, the programme conceived to build a layered web of sensors, uncrewed systems and crewed anti-submarine forces across the North Atlantic approaches through which Russian submarines must pass.

The Royal Navy has been building towards an extra-large uncrewed capability for several years through Project Cetus, the demonstrator ordered from Plymouth-based MSubs, a twelve-metre autonomous submarine intended to prove how such vessels can operate alongside the fleet, carry payloads and extend a commander’s reach.