Royal Navy Commences Trails of BAE Autonomous Boats

The Royal navy has commenced trails of autonomous boats built by BAE Systems which can be controlled from warships for anti-piracy, attack and shore-landing missions.

Minister for Defense Procurement Jeremy Quin said: “Commencing the trials of the crewless Pacific 24 boat is an important stepping stone in the Royal Navy’s development of its autonomous capability.”

The autonomous P24 has been procured under the Royal Navy’s autonomy and lethality accelerator programme, Navy X.

The successful launch of the sea boat took place at Trafalgar Wharf, Portsmouth, earlier this month.

BAE Systems and Navy X will continue to collaborate on the development of its first autonomous P24 which is carrying out a series of acceptance trials throughout 2020.

The success of these trials could determine whether the Royal Navy decides to upgrade or procure an entire fleet of such craft. This could include their adoption on future classes of warships, such as the Type 26 or Type 31 frigate.