

The boat could manufacture and launch hexagonal block drones able to “shape shift” to deceive radars, transport equipment, or create blocks for enemy swarm drones.
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It would also be powered by helix-shaped wind turbines and for alternative energy use gill fins to extract hydrogen from the sea.Īmong the more curious designs is a proposal to build a sparsely manned submarine with the outer skin made from very tough brain coral. As well as launching satellites manufactured by utilising 3D printers on board, it would have laser guns, ultra-fast rocket propulsion and potentially be semi-submersible. © Provided by The NationalĪ sea-based aircraft carrier proposal would carry drone submarines and fly unmanned aircraft. The helium balloon would operate for several years in the stratosphere and its height would allow it to deploy stealthy attack ships rapidly to trouble spots around the world. The Navy’s proposed airborne ship carrier, powered by solar energy, would contain dozens of fast-strike vessels that would drop then glide to earth, submerge and surface to skim across the waves to launch missiles at ships. Young designers from the Naval Engineering Science and Technology (UKNEST), have put forward their ideas for the Future Autonomous Fleet programme that could shape how it operates over the next 50 years.Įxperts believe that with both the Americans and Chinese currently using stratospheric balloons for surveillance it is not unrealistic to see them mounted with weapons. With a £24 billion ($33bn) increase in spending over the next four years, the Navy is looking to invest in innovative, semi-autonomous warships that will still provide “lethality”, according to its recent Defence Command Paper. “The young engineers who worked on this project are thinking radically and with real imagination and that reflects how the Royal Navy is thinking too.” © Provided by The National “In a future scenario if we find ourselves unable to compete traditionally in terms of mass, we must think differently if we are to regain operational advantage,” said Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Nick Hine. While some of the ideas put forward appear highly futuristic, others may help the British fleet modernise at a time when the US, Chinese and Russians are all examining innovative battle-winning designs.
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In a bid to shape Britain's Navy into an ultra-modern force, engineers have been given the freedom to come up with plans using renewable energy and drone technology.Īmong the proposals is a giant helium-filled vessel that lingers 30 miles above Earth, able to launch fast strike vehicles that free fall into the sea before coming up to the surface to attack ships. Warships that plummet from the stratosphere into the sea and submarines made from coral have been proposed as futuristic vessels for the Royal Navy.
