Who needs sailors anyway?

[Kirkhill]

That more or less defeats the purpose, no?

I don't think so. One "frigate" becomes its own task force.

4 to 6 LUSV at 80 to 100 m
A couple of XLUUV.
A field self propelled sailing and gliding (underwater) sensors.

Risk is not eliminated but it is radically reduced.

Could be wrong. But that it is what I am taking from the info available.

 

[GR66]

Looks like China might be first out of the gate with an un-crewed Arsenal Ship...

China building new semi-submersible missile carrier

China is developing what appears to be a new generation of combat vessel that may operate without a crew, according to the report from Naval News. The mysterious ship, currently under construction at the Huangpu shipyard in Guangzhou, is believed

defence-blog.com

It will be interesting to see if this is a one-off prototype for testing or if we start to see serial production.

 

[Kirkhill]

Uncrewed schooners with Mk70 launched Tomahawks....

Lockheed invests in Saildrone to arm USVs

Larger Saildrone designs are being developed to support heavier payloads, including a Mk70 vertical launch system and thin line towed arrays.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

 

[Kirkhill]

Austal and the Aussies cruising on ....

Austal Shows Vantage Drones, AROS Controller At INDOPAC 2025

Austal Australia revealed the Vantage-range of surface drones and the AROS command and control suite at Indopacific 2025 in Sydney this week.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

Perhaps those Aussie solutions are the answer to some of the problems described here.

The Royal Navy is giving up one thing in which it led the world. I hope it can recover

There aren’t that many things the US Navy needs help with. This is one of them

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Perhaps those Aussie solutions are the answer to some of the problems described here.

The Royal Navy is giving up one thing in which it led the world. I hope it can recover

There aren’t that many things the US Navy needs help with. This is one of them

www.telegraph.co.uk

Sounds like you are trying to marry a specific type of remote control vessel (the Austal line) to a generic method of carrying out mine counter measures (the mother ship/UAV/USV concept of operation).

The Brits already have their "drones" and control system to carry out MCM remote ops from a mother ship. Their problem is that they are divesting themselves of the old type MCM vessels before the new "mother ship" MCM vessels come into service, thus reducing their capability in this form of naval warfare to nearly only poor old HMS Stirling Castle - a civilian ship taken from trade, originally only to demonstrate proof of concept, develop tactics and build up trade knowledge base.

It's that gap in capability due to poor succession planning that is being decried - not the absence of proper technology.

Sounds familiar?

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The enemy will produce their own drone fleets, question is will they ignore yours and hunt the mothership or will it be a drone on drone battle and the loser forced to withdraw their manned ship further back?

 

[Kirkhill]

Kongsberg, Leidos and the Aussies.

USVs armed with loitering munitions and NSM missiles.

Sea Archer - 900 kg payload 1500 NM at up to 40 kts
Longbow - 3000 kg payload 2750 NM

Leidos Australia and Kongsberg seek to up-arm USV with NSM - Naval News

Leidos Australia and Kongsberg have signed an MoU to assess possible integration of Naval Strike Missile (NSM) into Sea Archer and Long Bow unmanned surface vessels.

www.navalnews.com

 

[Kirkhill]

https://www.defenseone.com/business/2025/11/building-maritime-drones-monthsnot-yearscould-be-key-creating-navys-hybrid-fleet/409648/

50 m USV with 3500 NM range in 6 months

 

[Kirkhill]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/21/eu-threatens-to-block-weak-cop30-deal-00664413

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

This is a mistake, Kirkhill. I think you meant to post this in the " Who Needs Solar Anyways" thread.

 

[Kirkhill]

This is a mistake, Kirkhill. I think you meant to post this in the " Who Needs Solar Anyways" thread.

Doh!!!
Error.
Thanks.

British firm Kraken wins USSOCOM deal for new drone vessels

Kraken Technology Group has been awarded a United States Special Operations Command agreement worth up to $49 million to accelerate the development of new uncrewed surface and subsurface vessels.

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

Here is the toy of interest, a Bras d'Or drone.

And here is Bras d'Or crossed with a sub

Kraken and L3Harris partner for USSV development - MASSworld.news

Companies cooperate to develop the K40 Manta Unmanned Surface Vehicle with submerging for clandestine maneuvering.

massworld.news

 

[Kirkhill]

Europe reimagines rearmament at sea, learning from Russia’s war on Ukraine

Zelenskyy’s co-production agreements across the continent are kindling the fires of the naval defence industry.

www.aljazeera.com

Drones for everyone is not new.

But this is new.....

3-D printing hulls from a rock composite that can contain a lithium fire, resists abrasion from groundings and collisions and can yield bulletproof fuel tanks.

"Representatives of Greece’s largest shipyard, Skaramangas, plan to be among those travelling to Ukraine to discuss co-production deals.

"“We are developing a small unmanned reconnaissance craft and a larger, 12-metre unmanned craft with heavy weaponry,” Skaramangas Shipyards chief Miltiadis Varvitsiotis told Al Jazeera. “These are going to be made of composite materials, possibly carbon fibre, which we have developed extensively, but we are also looking into other materials.”

"Those other materials could perhaps come from the UK, where a startup, Expedition Zero, has patented a process to turn volcanic rock into boat hulls by creating a compound out of the silicon in the rock and resin. It calls the product EcoMinera because it was originally developed as an eco-friendly, recyclable alternative to fibreglass.

"Expedition Zero builds 12-metre catamarans and has built a prototype 20-metre ocean-going sailing vessel. But EcoMinera’s properties now appear applicable to military uses as well. The material resists abrasion better than steel, so a hull made of it can survive groundings and collisions, and since it melts at volcanic temperatures of 1,500C (2,732F), it can be used to bulletproof fuel tanks and fireproof lithium batteries.

"“We’ve already had discussions with companies that said, ‘If you can give us a product that will contain a lithium fire on a yacht, we’ll buy it from you tomorrow’,” Expedition Zero boss Andrew Cowen told Al Jazeera.

"“We’re talking to a group in the UK already about an application for an underwater autonomous vehicle … It could easily have a military application as well, because a lot of these vehicles operate in harsh environments.”"