Navy Lookout – The MoD declared Full Operating Capability (FOC) for the UK Carrier Strike Group on 17 November 2025. The announcement came during a major NATO exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. Here we consider the implications of the FOC milestone.

The War Zone – The U.K. Ministry of Defense is facing growing questions about the progress of its F-35 program, after key shortcomings were outlined in a recent critical report from the Public Accounts Committee, a body that examines the value for money of government projects…In particular, the committee found that a shortage of maintenance engineers is having a profound effect on F-35B availability and output.

Navy Lookout – Despite previous announcements that all the RN’s Sandown-class Mine Countermeasures Vessels would be decommissioned by 2026, it has been decided to extend the life of the last remaining ship, HMS Bangor. Here we consider this decision and wider MCM developments.

Navy Lookout – Following the announcement made in March this year that the DragonFire programme would be accelerated, the MOD has signed a £316 million contract with MBDA UK to provide the Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) for the RN.

Navy Lookout – As the RN goes ahead with plans for hybrid fleet USVs, this reignited debate about the role, control and configuration of such platforms in the future fleet. In this guest article, Jed considers how vessels of this type could be employed, the datalink architecture and whether lean crewing may ultimately be preferable to full autonomy.

Navy Lookout – The MoD has published its annual report and accounts for 2024-25. Buried amongst its 250 pages are some details of RN programmes that have been axed or written off.

Navy Lookout – The largest number of UK F-35B Lightning jets yet assembled aboard a Royal Navy aircraft carrier has joined HMS Prince of Wales in the Mediterranean for Italian-led Exercise Falcon Strike.

Navy Lookout – The RN is now in a position where ageing frigates are being decommissioned well before the replacements are available. There is little that can be done in the short term, but here we attempt to analyse if and when the situation might be recovered.

Navy Lookout – Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Tidespring has completed her contribution to Operation Highmast, enabling HMS Prince of Wales and allied vessels to operate globally. Since leaving the UK in April, Tidespring has supplied over 30,000 cubic metres of diesel and 4,200 cubic metres of aviation fuel in 79 RAS serials.

Navy Lookout – Discussion of Britain’s two aircraft carriers is primarily framed around the terms ‘Carrier Strike’ and ‘Carrier Enabled Power Projection’ (CEPP). While both are valid descriptors, they risk giving the impression that the ships exist solely to deliver ordnance against land targets. In reality, this is only one of their roles, and they are core to a much broader set of naval missions.

Navy Lookout – HMS Stirling Castle sailed from Birkenhead on 22nd October to begin sea trials, four months after transferring from the RFA to the RN. The ship, which will be based in Portsmouth, is the first dedicated mothership designed to support autonomous mine countermeasures systems.

Navy Lookout – Having been inactive since June 2024, primarily due to the shortage of personnel, RFA Tiderace will soon return to active service.

Council on Geostrategy – For this week’s Big Ask, we asked eight experts: Is the Russian Navy a capable threat to Britain?

Navy Lookout – In this guest article, Tom Hoyland considers the parallels between mass-produced wartime corvettes and today’s uncrewed systems as a means to increase anti-submarine effect.

Navy Lookout – Defence Eye reports that General Sir Gwyn Jenkins has launched an urgent 100-day drive to tackle systemic submarine maintenance delays. He has ordered the creation of a new Submarine Maintenance Recovery Plan designed to urgently address issues causing extended patrols for the Vanguard-class and the chronically poor availability of Astute-class boats.

Navy Lookout – Towed array sonar is a sinuous cable of hydrophones trailed astern of warships and submarines, a technology that has taken ASW from speculative hunting at short range to a long-distance pursuit. Here we look at this key sensor and its development.

Navy Lookout – After a visit to Japan that marked deepening UK-Japanese defence cooperation, HMS Prince of Wales and the UK-led Carrier Strike Group have begun the return leg of their global deployment. Departing Tokyo on 2 September, the group has continued to conduct a succession of multinational exercises.

Navy Lookout – The RN has launched project VANQUISH, seeking proposals from industry for a Fixed-Wing, Short Take Off and Landing, Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP). This is the first step towards meeting the First Sea Lord’s vision for a large technical demonstrator UAS to be flown from an aircraft carrier in a very short timeframe.

Navy Lookout – The Fleet Air Arm’s Wildcat helicopters have achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC) with the Sea Venom missile, bringing a modern long-range strike option into front-line service. The weapon can now be carried on global deployments, restoring a capability absent since the retirement of Sea Skua in 2017.

Navy Lookout – As part of the Royal Navy’s Future Air Dominance System (FADS) concept, BAE Systems has proposed low-cost, rapidly-built uncrewed/ minimally crewed vessels to supplement the Type 83 destroyer. Drawing on the legacy of the Triton trimaran demonstrator built for the RN in 2000, the proposed Sensor-Effector Platforms (SEP), could form a key element of the disaggregated air defence architecture.

Navy Lookout – In what is becoming the new normal, an RN submarine returned to Faslane today after another lengthy patrol lasting more than six months, maintaining the nation’s nuclear deterrent.

Navy Lookout – With HMS Lancaster about to leave Bahrain for the last time, the Royal Navy is weighing options for maintaining a forward presence in the Gulf. One proposal under consideration is to deploy a Batch II River-class Offshore Patrol Vessel equipped with the Peregrine Rotary Wing Uncrewed Air System to cover some of the departing frigate’s capabilities.

Navy Lookout – Following the outline FADS requirement issued by the RN earlier this year, BAE Systems has begun development of its Air Warfare Command Ship solutions and other supporting elements. At DSEI 2025, the company shared their initial design ideas, including increased automation, modularity, and efforts to ensure affordability.