Royal Navy Launches 1st One-Way Attack Drone From Ship Underway
Updated
Updated · Navy Lookout · Jul 4
Royal Navy Launches 1st One-Way Attack Drone From Ship Underway
3 articles · Updated · Navy Lookout · Jul 4
Summary
Early June trials off Dorset saw XV Patrick Blackett fire a Callen-Lenz Nyan one-way effector from a pneumatic deck launcher while underway, with the drone reaching its target area and ditching as planned.
The test under Project VANTAGE was designed to measure how pitch and roll affect launch and to move strike-drone integration from shore experiments toward use at sea.
Royal Artillery and 744 NAS test personnel joined the ship's company for the event, which also included higher-autonomy navigation and counter-UAS trials.
The Royal Navy said the proof of concept suggests almost any service vessel with enough deck space could launch such drones, though the small P2000 patrol boats are seen as impractical.
The trial reflects lessons from Ukraine, where cheap one-way drones have threatened far costlier warships, but a single launch from a trials ship remains far from a scalable fleet weapon.