Defence Chief Technology Officer
UK Ministry of Defence office funding the £10m multi-role USV testbed.
The Defence Chief Technology Officer's office is funding a £10m multi-role uncrewed surface vessel testbed, put out to market by Navy Commercial on 5 August 2026 and running from March 2027 to March 2030.
Last refreshed: 12 August 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why is the Navy testing three different robot-boat control setups before choosing one?
Timeline for Defence Chief Technology Officer
£10m buys a robot boat testbed
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
The Defence Chief Technology Officer is the Ministry of Defence office sponsoring the testbed vessel Navy Commercial put to market on 5 August 2026. The £10m contract, running from 1 March 2027 to 31 March 2030, funds a multi-role uncrewed surface vessel able to operate in three configurations: shore-controlled, mothership-integrated and distributed alongside other uncrewed vessels.
Testing all three control models before choosing one is a hedge: the office has not committed to a single architecture for the wider fleet, and a £10m testbed is a comparatively cheap way to buy time on that decision. The testbed runs alongside, not instead of, the Navy's wider Mine Hunting Capability programme.