Project Beehive
Royal Navy programme awarding a £12.3m contract to Kraken Technology Group in March 2026 for 20 K3 SCOUT autonomous surface vessels deployed in the Strait of Hormuz force package.
Last refreshed: 29 May 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Will Project Beehive USVs support Ariadne in live mine-clearance near Hormuz?
Timeline for Project Beehive
Provided USVs for the Lyme Bay force package deploying toward Hormuz
Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea: Robot minehunter now sails for HormuzMentioned in: UK sends GBP 115M to Hormuz drones
Drones: Industry & Defence- What is Project Beehive in the Royal Navy?
- Project Beehive is the Royal Navy's programme to operate a fleet of Kraken K3 Scout uncrewed surface vessels. A £12.3 million contract was awarded in March 2026 for 20 boats, which are now in the Lyme Bay force package sailing toward a potential Hormuz mission.Source: UK Defence Journal
- How much did Project Beehive cost the Royal Navy?
- The Project Beehive contract was worth £12.3 million, awarded to Kraken Technology Group on 11 March 2026 for 20 K3 Scout USVs.Source: UK Defence Journal
- What role do Project Beehive boats play near the Strait of Hormuz?
- The 20 Kraken K3 Scout USVs are part of the RFA Lyme Bay force package that departed for a potential Hormuz mine-clearance mission. They provide surveillance and perimeter patrol alongside the RNMB Ariadne minehunter.Source: Naval News
Background
Project Beehive is the Royal Navy's programme to field a fleet of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) for mine countermeasures and force-multiplying tasks. The Royal Navy awarded a £12.3 million contract to Kraken Technology Group on 11 March 2026 for 20 K3 Scout USVs, the service's first sizable crewless vessel fleet. The First Sea Lord named Project Beehive explicitly at the Combined Naval Event on 19 May 2026 when he delivered the Royal Navy's autonomy doctrine: "crewed where necessary, uncrewed wherever possible, integrated always".
The Beehive boats are now part of the RFA Lyme Bay force package that departed Gibraltar for a potential mine-clearance mission in or near the Strait of Hormuz. They operate alongside RNMB Ariadne, the Royal Navy's dedicated autonomous minehunter fitted with Thales sonar. The two programmes are complementary: Ariadne hunts and neutralises mines; the Beehive USVs provide broader surveillance, perimeter patrol and ISR coverage.
Project Beehive marks the point at which Royal Navy autonomy moved from experimentation to an operational force package, with the programme accelerating outside the standard multi-year Defence Equipment Plan cycle.
