Given the global market for autonomous and uncrewed systems, the Royal Navy should collaborate with commercial partners, including private financiers and other governments, to quickly establish an integrated frigate force for anti-submarine warfare, consisting of crewed, uncrewed, and autonomous platforms — which was one of the 2025 UK Strategic Defence Review recommendations.
As a result, the Royal Navy has awarded a £12.3 million contract to the UK Kraken Technology Group for 20 K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to be used by the Coastal Forces Squadron and 47 Commando Royal Marines for operations, training, and the development of autonomous and uncrewed technology.
The K3 Scout USV is also being manufactured in Germany following the formation last year of the Rheinmetall Kraken GmbH joint venture.
In November 2025, the Fareham-based Kraken Technology Group secured a US$49 million contract for K3 Scout USVs from US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to improve its capacity to carry out autonomous intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) as well as direct-action missions within highly contested littoral battle spaces.
Anduril and Kraken are collaborating to provide small USVs to the US Navy. Anduril will manufacture the K5 Kraken and K7 Sabre at its US facilities, ensuring maintenance and support for the fleet. It will integrate payloads and autonomy software, tailoring each vessel for the full spectrum of US Navy missions.
The Plymouth-based company ZeroUSV has become a shareholder in Manor Marine to provide the designer and manufacturer with assured production capacity in Portland, Dorset, for delivering its USVs.
Last year, ZeroUSV was chosen by the Royal Navy to deploy one of its Oceanus 12 USVs to Troia, Portugal, to take part in NATO’s largest exercise for autonomous naval systems alongside more than 20 allied nations.
The Oceanus12 utilises advanced AI software to safely navigate through intricate multi-ship environments, even in a GNSS-degraded climate. Designed for quick deployment, it is fully transportable with low observability and secure BLOS communications.
A new initiative by the UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) aims to investigate how USVs can provide essential status assurance for underwater operations. In DASA trials, the Oceanus 12 will autonomously move and deploy a network of Oshen’s C-Star drones across an area of 10 square miles. These micro-vessels serve as passive sensors, forming a distributed acoustic network capable of monitoring sub-surface assets such as the Royal Navy’s XV Excalibur XLUUV, without relying on high-bandwidth, detectable signals.
by David Oliver
