Naval News – The UK Royal Navy (RN) sees its continuing shift to a ‘hybrid fleet’ as central to prevailing in future conflict, and is focused on accelerating delivery of the maritime uncrewed systems integral to this new ‘hybrid’ force structure, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff General Sir Gwyn Jenkins has said.

Naval News – Britain will send its Carrier Strike Group back to sea in 2026 in a major show of force across the Euro-Atlantic and High North, reinforcing NATO’s deterrence at a time of rising Russian threats in the region.

Navy Lookout – Small and medium calibre guns have quietly become some of the most operationally relevant weapons in Royal Navy service. While missiles dominate discussions of high-end naval warfare, it is guns that provide the persistent, affordable and flexible means to deter, warn and defeat close-range threats. In recent years, that role has expanded dramatically as uncrewed aerial and surface systems have proliferated and increasingly appeared in real combat.

Navy Lookout – With her ship staff move onboard (SSMOB), achieved this week, Royal Navy Type 45 Destroyer, HMS Daring has reached a major milestone in the epic project to regenerate a ship that has been non-operational for more than 8½ years.

Navy Lookout – At a special evidence session held today, the House of Commons Defence Select Committee examined growing threats to the UK in the undersea domain and considered what the response should be. It was an unusually strong session, with three highly experienced witnesses providing exceptional clarity on a subject that is often misunderstood or poorly explained.

The Guardian – The UK is threatening to seize a Russia-linked shadow fleet tanker in an escalatory move that could lead to the opening up of a new front against Moscow at a time when the country’s oil revenues are tumbling.

Navy Lookout – In this article, Lee Pilgrim considers the seizure of the sanctioned tanker MV Marinera (formerly MV Bella 1) in the context of signals intelligence and electronic warfare in maritime security. The case illustrates how modern naval operations increasingly rely on control of the electromagnetic spectrum to counter vessels operating in legal and operational grey zones.

Navy Lookout – Almost 5 years since Project Selborne began, it has delivered a significant shift in how the RN prepares its people for service at sea and ashore. Beginning in April 2021, this 12-year contract with an industry and academic consortium aims to transform traditional naval training into a modern, flexible and technology-enabled system that better equips sailors and marines for the operational challenges of the 2020s and beyond.

Wavell Room – The Red Sea crisis has settled into an uncomfortable new normal. While the initial shock caused by the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) has faded, the strategic implications of the Houthi campaign remain dangerously under-analysed in the context of future British Naval Doctrine. For the Royal Navy, the conflict would appear to cast a shadow over amphibious operations in littoral waters, where both the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and the Littoral Response Groups (LRGs) are expected to conduct their operations. The Houthi campaign has inadvertently provided an example of a scalable, repeatable model of sea denial that fundamentally challenges the operating and financial rationale of Western naval power projection.

The Houthi Model involves the integration of sensors and shooters at the state level with the expendability and mass of non-state actor operations. This model poses a significant challenge for the Royal Navy, which relies on low-density, high-value assets.

Navy Lookout – The Submarine Maintenance Recovery Plan (SMRP) was formally launched on 15th January.

Navy Outlook – It was confirmed yesterday at a farewell Parade in her affiliated town of Richmond in Yorkshire, that the frigate is to be retired following 31-years of service.

Navy Lookout – Royal Navy submarine HMS Anson arrived in Gibraltar last week, her first stop after sailing from Faslane on 10th January. It was officially confirmed last year that a boat would be going to join Submarine Rotational Force–West in Western Australia during 2026.

Navy Lookout – The RN has reached a significant milestone in naval aviation with the first flight of the UK’s first autonomous, full-size helicopter. The Proteus Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System (RWUAS) technology demonstrator lifted off from Predannack airfield in Cornwall, another step forward in the integration of uncrewed systems into frontline maritime operations.

Navy Lookout – The SSN-AUKUS attack submarine is being defined by a tightly integrated, trilateral combat system whose architecture will shape the RN’s operational freedom and industrial dependencies for decades to come. Despite frequent emphasis on Australian industrial outcomes, this remains a British-led submarine design programme, with UK decisions establishing the framework within which partners must operate.

Navy Lookout – The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that project EUSTON is progressing towards a future manufacturing contract, subject to completion of detailed design work and a procurement process.

Navy Lookout – In this guest article, Matthew Bell, an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, considers the cultural challenges may be a bigger barrier to the RN’s adoption of Large Uncrewed Surface Vessels (LUSVs) than technical issues such as satellite bandwidth or artificial intelligence. Bringing LUSVs into service will mean changing long-standing maritime traditions, not just updating technology.

Navy Lookout – 2025 was a year in which the RN continued to demonstrate a measure of operational credibility while, at the same time, long-standing structural weaknesses became harder to ignore. Major deployments and visible progress in some programmes sat alongside a shrinking fleet, delayed decisions and an increasingly narrow margin for error.

Navy Lookout – In this guest article, Paul Keating-Brown considers the RN’s Persistent Operational Deployment Systems (PODS) concept and outlines developments to date.

RUSI – This research paper explores the strategic concept of the Atlantic Bastion, a key element of the UK’s Strategic Defence Review 2025, designed to bolster NATO’s maritime deterrence against Russian submarine threats in the North Atlantic. The authors assess the Bastion’s current deterrent value and propose refinements to enhance its effectiveness in countering Russian naval strategies.

Navy Lookout – Quarterly figures released by the MoD show the number of trained sailors and marines in the RN declined by about 1.1% in the last 12 months. Although this sounds insignificant, this amounts to about 220 people, equivalent to the crew needed for two Type 31 frigates. Recruitment is improving, but the legacy of shortages continues to impact the frontline.

Navy Lookout – Thales has unveiled its Sonar 76Nano prototype developed in response to a growing recognition within the Royal Navy that traditional approaches to anti-submarine warfare are no longer sufficient. While the system draws lineage from the highly effective Sonar 2076 submarine sonar, its true significance lies in how it has been conceived for uncrewed operations, rapid deployment and roles extending well beyond classic ASW.

Navy Lookout – The status of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary has again become an increasing concern. Due to budget constraints, there is renewed discontent over pay and ships laid up for lack of funds.

Navy Lookout – Speaking at the International Sea Power Conference in London on 8 December, the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, has given his most direct account yet of how the RN intends to transform for a more dangerous era. He set out an approach that is unapologetically urgent, technologically ambitious and rooted in alliances.

Navy Lookout – BAE Systems’ Cowes facility has re-emerged as one of the UK’s most important centres for radar engineering, anchoring a rapidly expanding national effort to deliver next-generation sensors. This second article examines the site’s evolution, its growing workforce and the technologies now shaping Britain’s future radar capability.