Royal Navy and US Navy to sink USS Klakring in live-fire exercise off Scotland

The Royal Navy and US Navy are expected to sink the retired Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Klakring (FFG-42) during a live-fire exercise next month.

According to Navy Lookout, the Atlantic Thunder 26 (AT26) sinking exercise will take place off the QinetiQ Hebrides range, Scotland between 17-21 September.

It is described as a “multi-domain exercise designed to validate surface weapon kill chains, build resilient kill webs and deliver strategic messaging through kinetic demonstration”.

What is the Atlantic Thunder 26 sinking exercise?

Atlantic Thunder 26 is a UK-US live-fire exercise. According to Navy Lookout, the exercise is designed to test allied weapons, targeting networks and uncrewed systems in a realistic environment.

The Royal Navy is also said to be planning to use unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to survey the wreck and gather information about the effectiveness of the weapons used.

RN & USN sank USS Boone off Scotland in 2022

In August 2025, the UK Defence Journal reported the that UK Ministry of Defence had issued a Request for Information for AT26. The article noted that the exercise will culminate in a SINKEX, or sinking exercise.

According to UK Defence Journal, the vessel is expected to sink to a depth of around 6,000 feet. The last time the UK and US sank a retired ship in an exercise was in 2022.

3 Typhoons, @RoyalNavy & @USNAVY used an array of high-powered weaponry for simulated attacks on the decommissioned frigate, USS Boone.

Full story: https://t.co/RzGF0vj0qd pic.twitter.com/myGx4568Rm

— Royal Air Force (@RoyalAirForce) September 23, 2022

Atlantic Thunder 22 was a rare live-fire trial off the Hebrides. It culminated in the sinking of the decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Boone using a combination of Harpoon, Martlet, and SM-6 missiles together with bombs.

The Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, US Navy, and US Air Force platforms all took part in sinking the USS Boone.

USS Klakring frigate selected for Scotland SINKEX

The USS Klakring was laid down in 1982 and decommissioned in 2013. Since then, the vessel has been stored at the Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF), which is something of a US Navy analogue to the Air Force’s famous Davis-Monthan boneyard.

On 12 August, the USS Klakring was seen being towed down the Delaware River as she prepared to make the Atlantic crossing to Campbeltown in Scotland.

Retired USN Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate Klakring (FFG-42) is slated for use as a live-fire SINKEX target during the upcoming joint Atlantic Thunder 26 exercise off Scotland. pic.twitter.com/KjeFCgg9H8

— Virtual Bayonet (@VirtualBayonet) August 19, 2026

Navy Lookout writes that it’s unclear why the USS Klakring has been selected for the sinking, given that there are plenty of decommissioned Royal Navy warships. It adds, “Hulks are not something the RN is currently short of, as there is an ongoing procession of decommissioned Type 23 frigates being towed to Turkey for scrapping at regular intervals.”