General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, the First Sea Lord, has said he will sign an agreement with Northrop Grumman to prepare its Talon drone for Royal Navy trials, aiming for a 2027 demonstration in UK waters including a carrier launch, according to the Royal Navy.

Speaking on board HMS Prince of Wales at the International Sea Power Conference in Oslo, Jenkins said: “In two days’ time, on this carrier, I will sign a statement of intent with our friends at Northrop Grumman to prepare their TALON demonstrator for trials with the Royal Navy under Project VANQUISH.”

He added: “That demonstrator is here with me on this stage.” He said the trials “will give us the evidence we need to understand how uncrewed combat aircraft can operate safely and effectively alongside the existing air wing.”

Jenkins said the carrier’s hangar, normally home to F-35Bs, Merlins and Wildcats, would in future also hold uncrewed teammates, among them the Navy’s first jet-powered drones, known as Collaborative Combat Aircraft. He said: “Last year, I said I wanted the first of those CCAs to be launched from the carrier flight deck by next year.”

He went on: “When I said that, there was probably a bit of scepticism in the room.” Of the approach, he said: “Not by waiting years for a perfect solution, but by working with industry to get the latest technology into the hands of our people as quickly as possible.”

Project Vanquish aims to demonstrate a jet-powered, short take-off and landing uncrewed aircraft able to fly from the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers without catapults or arrestor gear.

The Ministry of Defence told Parliament in June that it planned a carrier demonstration within 18 months, without naming an aircraft. The US Air Force designated Talon the YFQ-48A in January, bringing it into its own Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme as a semi-autonomous, low-cost aircraft designed to fly alongside crewed fighters.