Britain's Royal Navy will not replace its aging Type 45 destroyers with a direct successor. Instead, the government plans to build at least six new hybrid warships built around drone technology, according to BBC News.
The Ministry of Defence announced the shift as part of the country's upcoming Defence Investment Plan, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer has committed to releasing before the NATO summit in Turkey on July 7. The plan has been delayed for months while the government negotiated how to fund it.
The new vessels, called Common Combat Vessels, are designed to coordinate unmanned systems operating in the air, on the water surface, and beneath it. The MoD said the ships would deliver more resilient air defence and extend the Navy's reach, resilience, and firepower without a proportional increase in crew or cost. Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis said the new equipment would be "designed and built for the increasing threats we face."
The MoD had previously been exploring the Type 83, a concept vessel intended to replace the Type 45, but that plan is now scrapped. Officials said the Common Combat Vessels would be used to counter Russian activity in the North Atlantic and High North, protect critical underwater infrastructure, and strengthen NATO deterrence. The government also said the broader naval programme, including support vessels, would provide work for British shipyards.
The government did not specify how much funding is set aside in the Defence Investment Plan for the new vessels. The announcement comes after two senior defence officials resigned in recent weeks over funding disputes. Former Defence Secretary John Healey and former armed forces minister Al Carns both said the Treasury had not committed enough money to address gaps in British military capability. Healey said Starmer had been "unable", and the Treasury "unwilling", to commit the resources needed to defend the country at "this time of rising threats." Carns said the draft plan was "neither transformative enough nor sufficiently funded."
Jarvis, who replaced Healey, has reportedly secured additional funding since taking office, though there are no signs the increase will reach the £28 billion Healey previously said was needed. The MoD said on Saturday that £500 million would go toward equipping the UK's Commando Force with new boats. The full Defence Investment Plan is expected before the NATO summit opens on July 7.
