Royal Navy’s first autonomous squadron to operate Kraken and Rattler drone boats

The Royal Navy has announced the commissioning of its 1st Autonomous Squadron, a new unit that will operate uncrewed boats on frontline operations.

The squadron was formally commissioned at HM Naval Base Portsmouth on 5 November, with the announcement published on 9 November. More than 200 naval personnel, dignitaries, media representatives, family members and friends attended the ceremony.

Attendees saw a demonstration of the uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) the squadron will operate, including Kraken and Rattler craft, manoeuvred around Portsmouth Harbour from a control hub.

The Portsmouth-based squadron comprises around 180 personnel, split into two watches to sustain round-the-clock operations. It replaces Project Beehive, the Royal Navy’s initial programme to acquire autonomous boats and develop its hybrid navy technologies.

A step towards becoming a hybrid navy

The establishment of the 1st Autonomous Squadron marks a milestone in the Royal Navy’s transition to a hybrid navy. The wider effort is backed by £1.5 billion of investment over four years.

The transformation will see traditional warships and units integrated with uncrewed and autonomous technology.

Royal Navy Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Steve Moorhouse attended the event and said: “The Royal Navy is doing something it has never done before. We are commissioning the first autonomous squadron in our history.”

Moorhouse described the milestone as “genuinely historic”, saying the autonomous squadron would take its place alongside the ships, submarines and aircraft that have traditionally formed the fleet.

The new unit will operate vessels independently and within task groups alongside partner nations, while helping bring additional uncrewed systems into service.

Adapting to a changing security environment

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The threat environment we are facing is fundamentally different from that of recent decades. A major determinant of military power now is who can innovate fastest.”

Streeting said greater readiness to fight would strengthen deterrence and reduce the likelihood of conflict. He linked the investment in autonomous technology to what he described as the largest sustained increase in UK defence spending since the end of the Cold War.

Moorhouse said the transition to a hybrid navy was about giving personnel “better tools”.

The combination of crewed and autonomous capabilities would provide “more reach, more striking power and more options”, he said, making the fleet harder to knock out of a fight and quicker to adapt.

Separately, ADS Advance reported that a former senior Royal Navy officer said war games testing the UK’s hybrid navy concept produced roughly three times the missile capacity in a North Atlantic conflict scenario.

That assessment concerned the potential of a wider hybrid fleet in war games, rather than a demonstrated increase in the Royal Navy’s existing missile capacity or the capability of the new squadron alone.