U.K. Carrier Strike Group to Use Drones for First Time in Indo-Pacific Mission

For the first time, a fleet of drones will fly essential supplies between ships of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group when it sails to the Indo-Pacific later this month, marking a shift in how the Royal Navy handles logistics during long-range deployments.

Alongside F-35B stealth jets and naval helicopters, the flagship HMS Prince of Wales will now feature a group of nine Malloy T-150 drones, set to carry food, parcels from home, and critical engineering parts between vessels in the task group.

The drones will support helicopter operations by taking over the transport of lighter cargo, which traditionally required expensive air assets. “There is a statistic from previous carrier strike deployments that shows 95 per cent of stores transferred weigh less than 50kg,” said Lieutenant Matt Parfitt, a drone flight commander with 700X Naval Air Squadron. “This time we’re going to use a remotely-piloted, uncrewed system instead.”

The systems will be operated by a 12-member team from 700X NAS, based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose. They will deploy across three ships in the group as part of the trial.

The drones, built by Malloy Aeronautics, are octo-copters with eight rotor blades, each about two feet long. With a speed of up to 60 mph, a maximum payload of 68 kg, and a flight time of up to 40 minutes, the T-150 can fly autonomously or manually between pre-set waypoints with underslung cargo.

Lt. Parfitt noted the rapid pace of change: “We only got these Malloy systems last August. Since then we’ve had to learn how to fly and maintain them and how to integrate them into the crewed aviation space. That’s an awful lot of regulations and documentation.”

He added that while the drones had been used over land, the team is learning how to operate them in a maritime setting for the first time. “Everybody is working at maximum speed to get everything ready. It has been challenging and difficult, but that’s also exciting too.”

The Ministry of Defence led the research and development behind the Malloy T-150 as part of a drive to adopt new technologies more quickly.

700X NAS, the drone specialist unit, is also notable for its cross-disciplinary approach. Its members include sailors from various naval branches who have retrained to operate drones.