UK planning to sink target ship off coast of Scotland

The Ministry of Defence has issued a Request for Information (RFI) inviting industry to participate in Atlantic Thunder 26, a major US–UK live-fire exercise planned for May 2026 at the QinetiQ Hebrides range in northwest Scotland.

The exercise will culminate in a SINKEX, or sinking exercise, involving British and American naval and air forces striking a target ship.

A SINKEX is a live-fire drill in which naval and air forces engage a decommissioned vessel with real munitions to test weapons systems and tactics under operational conditions. In the context of Atlantic Thunder 26, the Ministry of Defence describes it as a joint US-UK exercise “designed to validate SUW kill chains, build resilient kill webs and deliver strategic messaging through kinetic demonstration” off the Hebrides in May 2026.

Once struck and sunk, the hulk will settle at a depth of around 6,000 feet, where uncrewed underwater vehicles will be used to conduct battle damage assessment and seabed surveys, providing both a test of new technology and a practical demonstration of interoperability.

In 2022, the Royal Navy and US Navy carried out Atlantic Thunder 22, a rare live-fire trial off the Hebrides that culminated in the sinking of the decommissioned frigate USS Boone. The exercise brought together HMS Diamond, USS Arleigh Burke, RAF Typhoon jets and US Navy P-8 Poseidons in a coordinated strike that saw multiple weapons delivered against the target.

It was billed at the time as the most complex multinational SINKEX ever staged in UK waters, providing both a demonstration of allied firepower and critical data on how British and American forces integrate ‘kill chains’ in real-world conditions.

According to the RFI, “AT26 is a US–UK multi-domain exercise designed to validate SUW kill chains, build resilient kill webs and deliver strategic messaging through kinetic demonstration that will take place off the coast of the Hebrides in Scotland from 11th–22nd May 2026.”

The Royal Navy’s Develop Directorate is seeking outline proposals by 12 September 2025, with an internal board scheduled for mid-September to decide which industry participants will receive national sponsorship. Successful companies would then be integrated into the planning cycle for the operational experimentation (OpE) phase.

The RFI makes clear that the exercise will not be a showcase event but a developmental environment to address capability shortfalls. “Whilst AT26 presents opportunities to showcase technology, and for Industry contributions to be highlighted during the exercise to an appropriate audience, it must be understood that this is a development exercise. The focus will be on accelerating capability delivery by addressing the capability blockers listed,” the document states.

Particular interest is placed on uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) able to perform underwater battle damage assessment after the strike. Areas flagged for demonstration include high-resolution scanning at depths down to 6,000 feet, autonomous and AI-driven mission tools, long-endurance and low-signature platforms, and new approaches to launch and recovery. The RFI also calls for novel communication systems for bandwidth-constrained environments and “solutions to support ‘system to system’ integration including across security domains.”

The ministry stresses that all proposed systems must be fully operational at the start of the exercise and integrated into its command-and-control architecture. UK sponsorship will require industry partners to commit to a series of remote planning meetings and in-person conferences, with contribution to this “drumbeat” of activity a condition of participation.

The ministry sets out seven intended outcomes, including developing its understanding of emerging technologies, aligning requirements with industry standards, and enabling the design of a future procurement strategy. The RFI also seeks to “accelerate national and bilateral Maritime Uncrewed Systems development programmes… drive interoperability and interchangeability in MUS… and promote the operational exploitation of MUS capabilities to fulfil the maritime capability gaps.”