This was the term used in September 2025 by the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, when he set out the ambition in direct terms: “Together, we will reimagine the Royal Navy as a new hybrid navy, moving to a dispersed but digitally connected array of crewed and uncrewed and autonomous platforms that will redefine military power. We have a bold vision which will place our country in the vanguard of autonomous warships and maritime warfare – under, on, above and from the sea. It is my aim to have the first of our uncrewed escort ships sailing alongside our Royal Navy warships within the next two years.”
That urgency creates two parallel demands for the Royal Navy; improving its existing fleet to be on a war footing this decade, while also developing the full hybrid force with the first seagoing Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs) escorting Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) frigates and T31 Multi-purpose frigates from 2027 and beyond, the whole force to be available in the 2030s.
Naval capabilities, therefore, must be incrementally deployable, upgradeable and resilient in a “contested, congested, denied, degraded electromagnetic environment”, according to Leonardo’s Maritime Engagement Lead, Iain Breckenridge.
“General Jenkins’s vision indicates a move away from a purely traditional, fully crewed fleet towards a mixed force. In the centre of a task group there will still be high value and mission-essential assets such as carriers or amphibious ships, but escorts will include uncrewed ships providing sense and effect capabilities. A crewed platform (initially T26 or T31 and then common combat vessel) will fulfil the decide function. Together, they will enable sense, decide and then the effect to be achieved,” he explains.
Rather than concentrating capability in a handful of ships – with aircraft carriers and amphibious command ships still at the core – a hybrid task group decomposes the fight into functions, enabling the constituent parts to sense, decide and deliver effect at a tempo that outpaces an adversary. In practice, uncrewed systems can push forward to extend reach and reduce risk to people, protecting the most valuable assets by doing “the dull, dirty and dangerous”, according to Breckenridge.
Atlantic Bastion – combining highly trained crews, AI and autonomy
The pioneering Atlantic Bastion programme is an example of the UK’s move towards the hybrid navy approach, driven by the increasingly uncertain geopolitical situation which is compressing timelines and highlighting the cost of acting or reacting too slowly.
Atlantic Bastion illustrates the strategic shift towards operating at range, with persistent sensing and credible deterrence. The programme features highly trained crews with autonomous platforms and artificial intelligence with the aim of making Britain more secure from Russian undersea threats in the North Atlantic through a transformation of the Royal Navy and its submarine-hunting capabilities.
Miniaturising technology
This approach introduces fresh challenges across air, land and maritime domains in delivering technology that is sufficiently compact and agile, while still meeting performance requirements.
“A hybrid force only delivers value if smaller, cheaper platforms can carry the right sensors and effectors that enable them to fulfil their tasks,” explains Breckenridge.
“This creates a design challenge, since traditional maritime sensors are often built for larger hulls and aircraft with bigger power budgets, space, and weight and cooling margins. Given the range of UAVs that will be in future service, not all can carry sensors the size of radars such as Seaspray. The question will be, what level of performance is good enough for a given mission, and how it can be delivered at scale. Alongside compact radar, miniaturisation extends to EO/IR and tactical computing at the edge, allowing smaller assets to detect, process and share data without relying on constant high bandwidth connectivity.” These are capabilities that we demonstrated with the RN at the recent Trident Sprint exercise in Portsmouth.
Data-driven combat management and situational awareness
Essentially, this means creating a system of systems whereby crewed and uncrewed surface and underwater vessels, along with supporting maritime aviation, all share data and tasking across a contested network.
“The aim is to detect threats earlier and de-risk your capital ship,” explains Simon Staley, Leonardo’s Head of FCAS Campaigns (Maritime and Land). “Fusing data from multiple sources – including sensors on platforms such as sonobuoys and mine countermeasures, along with autonomous aviation such as Proteus – is critical to combat management.”
Uncrewed platforms add coverage, persistence and risk reduction, but only if they contribute to a shared picture, he adds.
“The operational aim is to get inside their OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) loop by using sensors distributed across platforms and domains, then moving the right data to the right decision-maker in a timely manner.
“We have this pedigree in air with Typhoon now and Tempest in the future. We're also working with land, space and cyber – all of which the Navy needs to operate. We have the capability, which is constantly improving, that will enable us to integrate everything to give key decision makers – from a single component commander right the way up to the strategic commander – the quick decisions based on the amount of secure data that we can deliver to them on time and at the right pace.”
Integration beyond technology
With the timeframe of imminent threats seemingly becoming shorter, the pace of technological development is a major factor in meeting the challenges that lie ahead. Partnerships and transformative working practices are therefore key, says Staley.
“Through our work with the Armed Forces, we have unrivalled experience and a unique vantage point to address the challenges of the evolving hybrid navy. This will help the Royal Navy sense, decide and act faster – across platforms, domains and partners – as well as improve command decision and enhance the Navy’s operational effectiveness globally alongside NATO and other allies,” he adds.
Focusing on Leonardo’s relationships with specialist SMEs, Breckenridge says they have “proven our ability to operate flexibly and at pace”, as showcased through our Sovereign Hunter trials last year in which Leonardo collaborated with UK SMEs to deliver the UK’s first full-scale demonstration of decentralised autonomous collaborative platform swarming.
“Most recently under the Atlantic Bastion programme, Leonardo has worked with UK SME, SubSea Craft, pairing an open digital platform with the company’s MARS USV to autonomously detect threats as part of ASW missions and helping operators make faster and better-informed decisions,” he says.
Furthermore, Breckenridge emphasises “the critical need to create a trusted and enduring partnership with the Royal Navy. This will ensure full alignment between its requirements and the capability and technology being developed, in line with the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy.
“Ultimately, the Hybrid Navy concept will only succeed with industry working closely with the Royal Navy in mission and integration partner roles to produce the capabilities that will deliver sense, decide, effect and connect.”