General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, the newly appointed First Sea Lord, used his opening speech at DSEI 2025 to deliver what he called a mission of transformation: “My mission is to move the Royal Navy to warfighting readiness over the next four years. This is essential if we are to strengthen deterrence and preventing conflict in this new era of threat.”
Jenkins grounded his address in the realities of the National Security Strategy: “Russian aggression menacing our continent, strategic competition intensifying, extremist ideologies proliferating, technology transforming warfare, and hostile state activity occurring in and around the UK, impacting our interests.”
He stressed that the sea remains central to security: “The maritime domain, the sea and our shipping routes remain the essential cornerstone to our national security and growth in our economy.”
He set out four priorities: nuclear, innovation, leadership and agility. “Nuclear deterrence is our top priority… Innovation is critical to adapting at the pace of technological change… Leadership excellence is about inspiring and empowering teams… Agility is essential to remove barriers, streamline processes, and having a focus on what truly matters.”
Jenkins said the Navy must break with the habits of the past: “For 35 years, we have operated under the presumption of a ‘peace dividend,’ taking calculated risks against emerging threats. This has resulted in a reduced fleet size and inevitable readiness challenges.”
Central to his vision is what he termed a “new hybrid Navy.” “Together we will reimagine the Royal Navy as a new hybrid Navy. We will move to a dispersed but digitally connected fleet of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous platforms that will redefine maritime military power.”
He pledged that this vision is already moving from concept to reality. “It is my aim to have the first of our uncrewed escort ships sailing alongside our RN warships within the next two years. We will then begin scaling across the Navy.”
The First Sea Lord highlighted forthcoming milestones. “We intend to launch the first jet-powered collaborative platform drone as a concept demonstrator off a Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier as soon as next year.” He also pointed to Atlantic Bastion as “a groundbreaking concept revolutionising how we protect the UK and its allies in the underwater environment… We will have our first Bastion sensors in the water next year.”
Jenkins linked the transformation of platforms to that of people: “All this – the complete transformation of our force – will necessitate the biggest change of the culture, workforce training and skills for our sailors and marines since the turn of the last Century.” He confirmed: “Within 100 days, we will trial new tools to improve the way we assess leadership at all levels… and within 100 days, we will have defined, war-gamed and agreed a plan to ensure the Royal Navy is credible and moves to warfighting readiness over the next four year.”
He ended with a call to industry: “We need partners in industry, large and small, to deliver the innovation we must have. I thank you for all you already do for us, and I look forward to what we will do together in the years ahead.”
no rush then, every thing will be fine in 3 to 5 years, that is fine if any enemy can wait until then. Tired of the CDS warm words, improve this , better that how? with wish full thinking and not ordering any thing. Its all the MOD and likes of the CDS ever do is talk, defect, give things fancy project names but that is it bugger all else.
I think one problem is, HMG, the MoD, Ministers, the Joint Chiefs, have all grandstanded and made so many declarations of this and that for so long now many don’t take any of it seriously any more. Stirrup was telling everyone in 2010 all the cuts would get the military “ready for an uncertain world.”
Right….
Like the Army tripling lethality, while shedding its IFV and having 14 155m guns left.
I’ll wait and see.
That’s not what I heard him say – 100 days, next year, next two years are what I got.
Given the events of today, a 1939 style ‘Phoney War” with Russia could break out tomorrow. So what is the UK doing, well quite a lot since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022: Scrap 36 Tranche 1 Typhoon fighters – check. Sell the two Albion class amphibious ships – check. Halve the number of Challenger tanks in service – check. Sell the Sandown class MCMVs – check. Sell the RAF’s Hercules transports used for special forces ops – check. Decommission a SSN just refitted at a huge cost – check. Reduce the Army by 10,000 soldiers – check. And so on …
The current and previous government should be ashamed of all their achievements in reducing the security of the UK – which contradicted time and again their many ridiculous statements that the country was moving to a war footing.
👍
All irrelevant without the political will power of both our own government and NATO governments to stick together and show resolve and respond to the current Russian provocations.
Also as a nation to accept the necessary cost/taxes to fund our security
I am a bit worried that the Navy is not ready to go warfighting now, next year or for the two years after that. 1SL’s four priorities did not include having good platform availability, being able to man all our ships or closing capability gaps. Also of concern is that today there is no plan to get to readiness in 4 years…but there will be one in 100 days time, together with some snazzy ‘leadership tools’.
A little off the subject our defence Secretary asking our Armed forces forces chiefs today what the UK can send to Poland to help with AD ? Honestly by now you’d think he’d know what we do and don’t have .I believe we can only offer a Sky Sabre unit ,it’s ironic that we’ve only just brought a Sky Sabre unit back only a few months ago .Although it’s a worry about Poland air space been breached the Pols are in a much better position for AD than the UK .The defence Secretary should keep what little we have got on our own Defence .