British Navy has conducted trials of unmanned naval equipment in Norway.

In Norway, the British Royal Navy has conducted ‘Groundbreaking’ trials of unmanned naval equipment in an operational setting for the first time, in a number of milestones for the naval service’s autonomous future. British Royal Marines small boat specialists 47 Commando have been in Norway working alongside HMS Albion, the Royal Navy’s autonomous accelerator NavyX and the Office for the Chief Technology Officer to see how the kit could work during operations.

Unmanned Surface Vessel MAST Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed 13 during trails by British Royal Navy in Norway. (Picture source British Royal Navy)

Exercise Autonomous Advance Force put unmanned boat Mast 13, heavy lift drone from Malloy, remotely-piloted air system Puma and the Remus unmanned sub-surface drone through their paces in the harsh conditions of the Arctic.

An artificial intelligence system to control all of this tech was integrated in amphibious ship Albion, with industry partners welcomed on board to implement and oversee the system trials. The successful four-day exercise saw these technologies make their debut in an operational setting.

It was the first time an unmanned surface vessel has been operated from the dock in HMS Albion and the first time 700X Naval Air Squadron have flown Puma from a Royal Marines landing craft.

During these trials, British Royal Navy has used a brand-new class of Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) jointly designed an manufactured by L3 Harris and British DSTL (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory). The Maritime Autonomy Surface Testbed (MAST) 13 is a 13-meter (41-foot) long high-speed system capable of fully autonomous navigation. The ASV uses L3Harris’ ASView proprietary autonomous control system and advanced algorithms developed for the U.K.’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

The Autonomous Advance Force trials started last year in Cornwall and have since progressed to include more of the latest technology and more naval service units. Integration of autonomous equipment is a key strand in the development of Future Commando Force and the Littoral Strike concept. The future vision is of this type of system being used to control multiple assets in different environments.