Royal Navy Drones Set For Landmark First Deployment

The U.K. Royal Navy's 700X Naval Air Squadron is expected to deploy for the first time by the end of 2020 with first of Puma drones to be inducted in few weeks.

Tests of the drones are conducted at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose. They were recently part of Exercise Merlin Storm, which featured Royal Marines preparing to deploy to the Caribbean during hurricane season, providing airborne surveillance for the Commandos' helicopters, Forces.net reported July 31.

The Navy's Puma drone has roughly a 2.5-metre wingspan and can fly for 20 kilometres. Controlled from an operating console, the Puma feeds the information it captures into a computer.