Inside a British manufacturing facility, sleek glass fibre hulls shaped like oversized canoes await the fitting of engines and high-tech systems. These unmanned attack boats, similar to those used in Ukraine, are increasingly seen as the future of naval warfare.
Fast-growing British defence firm Kraken has signed deals to supply small attack boats for the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy, and is working on a range of drones, including the 8.5-metre Scout Medium.
The U.S. military has deployed similar vessels, including the Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft, in recent operations near the Gulf. European nations have honed their own technology and skills with NATO's Task Force X-Baltic.
Whether operated autonomously or by a helmsman connected via satellite communication system, such vessels can carry a range of weapons and payloads, including surveillance cameras and machineguns.
Iran appears to have used at least two such vessels in its attacks on commercial vessels, a sign of how fast naval warfare is changing.
UK media reported that the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Lyme Bay was due to load a cargo of drones for potential mine clearance in the Gulf, but only once the conflict concludes.
Kraken says it can deliver as many as 500 remote-controlled vessels in the current year and twice that in 2027, in part through deals with shipyards in Germany and the Pacific rim.
