The Prime Minister's Defence Investment Plan commits more than £5bn to autonomy and, for the first time, names four uncrewed Royal Navy classes, Type 91 to Type 94. No numbers, contractors or delivery dates came with them, and the overall settlement landed £13bn below what the MoD had asked for. The real money and tempo moved elsewhere this fortnight: a £6.68m trials contract for the CETUS submarine and Ukraine codifying 50 new robot models in six months.
Britain named its robot fleet this fortnight; the contracted money moved on a trial and in Ukraine's war.
The Prime Minister's Defence Investment Plan committed more than £5bn to autonomy on 30 June and named Type 91 to Type 94, the first uncrewed platforms written into the Royal Navy's formal class list.
United StatesBritain's Defence Investment Plan committed more than £5bn to autonomy on 30 June 2026. It named four uncrewed Royal Navy classes, Type 91 to Type 94, the first robot warships in the fleet's formal structure.
No quantities, contractors or in-service dates came with them. The £5bn sits inside a £15bn settlement, roughly £13bn below what the Ministry of Defence had sought.
The Submarine Delivery Agency awarded M Subs £6.68m on 24 June to trial XV Excalibur, the largest uncrewed underwater vessel the Royal Navy has put in the water.
The Submarine Delivery Agency awarded Plymouth's M Subs £6,680,147 on 24 June 2026. The contract runs to 1 May 2028 to trial XV Excalibur, a 12-metre, 19-tonne uncrewed underwater vehicle.
At 19 tonnes it is the largest such vessel the Royal Navy has trialled. It is also the only funded subsea contract of the fortnight, against a £5bn plan.
ARX Robotics of Munich and Ukraine's Roboneers founded ARX Industries at the Gdansk recovery conference on 25 June to build the Rys Pro ground robot in both countries.
ARX Robotics of Munich and Ukraine's Roboneers founded a joint venture, ARX Industries, in Gdansk on 25 June 2026. It will build the Rys Pro modular ground robot in both Germany and Ukraine.
Stated year-one capacity runs to several thousand units. That is a firmer commitment than the letters of intent signed at Eurosatory a fortnight earlier.
The same plan confirmed at least six Common Combat Vessels, recast as drone-control hubs, in place of the Type 83 destroyer the Royal Navy had been expected to buy.
The same plan confirmed at least six Common Combat Vessels on 30 June 2026. They replace the cancelled Type 83 destroyer, recast as control hubs for aerial, surface and underwater drones.
For shipbuilders the requirement shifts from a top-end warship to a mothership for robots. That changes which contractors and combat systems a future Royal Navy competition rewards.
Ukraine's defence ministry approved 50 new ground-robot models in the first half of 2026, against 60 for all of last year, the confirmable measure of a programme moving faster than its disputed unit targets.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence codified 50 new ground-robot models in the first half of 2026, against 60 for all of 2025. Its Defence Procurement Agency signed 19 manufacturer contracts worth UAH11bn, about $250m.
Ground robots ran more than 21,500 logistics and evacuation missions in the first quarter. That wartime tempo is the pace European makers are building capacity to match.
The IMO's global code for crewless ships took effect on 1 July, but its working framework was pushed to December, leaving operators with a milestone and little else.
The International Maritime Organization's non-mandatory Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) Code entered force on 1 July 2026. Its Experience Building Phase framework will not be built until the Maritime Safety Committee meets in December 2026.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency set no national-legislation timeline. The shore-based-master liability gap that Nautilus International flagged remains open.
AI-assisted, human-edited under the editorial responsibility of Bannermedia Ltd. Reviewed by Ed Woodcock on 3 July 2026. Editorial standards.
