Thales, Kraken Technology Group, Hensoldt, Exail, SH Defence, CUBEDIN and Stormborn have joined Babcock’s ARMOR Force framework, with Babcock acting as single accountable integrator for navies buying crewed and uncrewed fleets, according to the company.
The announcement, made at Euronaval, adds platforms, sensors, payloads, communications and mission systems to the work Babcock is already doing with HII and Arondite, whose Cobalt software will tie the systems together on ARMOR Force vessels. Babcock is pitching navies a single point of accountability, in which it integrates the technology and provides the assurance, certification, testing, training and support to bring it into service. The company said its facilities at Rosyth and Devonport will support development, integration, simulation and testing, and that more partners can be added as requirements change.
Sir Nick Hine, Chief Growth Officer and Chief Executive – Marine, Babcock said: “The future Hybrid Navy will not be built from individual technologies operating in isolation. Success depends on bringing together platforms, systems, data and people into a coherent operational capability.
“ARMOR Force does exactly that. By establishing this framework and bringing together world-leading partners, we are creating an ecosystem that enables navies to adopt autonomous capability with confidence. Babcock acts as the integrator and accountable delivery partner, ensuring customers receive a proven, deployable capability rather than a collection of promising technologies.
“Our approach is founded on commanded autonomy. People remain firmly responsible for operational intent, authority and accountability, while technology extends reach, resilience and operational advantage. ARMOR Force gives customers the flexibility to evolve capability at pace while avoiding dependency on any single platform, supplier or technology roadmap.”
Babcock unveiled ARMOR Force last December with a Type 31 frigate commanding large uncrewed vessels from HII’s ROMULUS programme, and has offered the Royal Navy, without any confirmed contract, an early demonstration in 2027 using HMS Venturer and an HII vessel. Kraken already supplies the Royal Navy, which is buying 20 of its uncrewed vessels under Project Beehive.
Three of the new partners are Danish firms that signed memoranda with Babcock in August, as it pursues Denmark’s future frigate requirement with its Arrowhead 140. One of them, SH Defence, also signed a memorandum with Naval Group last month covering containerised mission modules and launch and recovery systems for drones, in support of the French company’s rival FDI offer.
It’s good that Babcock are working with Kracken.. I have no issue with them partnering with HII, but we do need to be ensuring the autonomous RN is also developed using British IP and not Just US.. it should be British IP where we can and foreign IP where we have to.
This way Babcock can bring forward a proposal for the CCV and T9xs which are British were it’s possible to be and US when it must be.
Hasn’t Ukraine taught us that anything called kraken is not very nice
Unless this is meant for killing civilians