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UK Royal Navy notes hybrid air wing progress with eyes on Peregrine drone development

26th February 2026 - 11:46 GMT | by Lucy Powell in London, UK

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The Royal Navy’s Peregrine UAV. (Photo: Crown Copyright)

The Royal Navy’s Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) initiative aims to modernise aviation capabilities to use uncrewed systems where possible, supporting its goal of a hybrid air wing by 2040.

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has made progress on its Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) initiative, with a British official revealing that further plans to expand on the implementation of the force’s Peregrine uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) were being discussed.

Disclosing the RN’s ongoing MATX developments at Defence IQ’s International Military Helicopter 2026 conference this week, the official outlined recent successes and noted the MATX strategy as “firmly embedded” within the RN’s defence capability plans.

The Peregrine drone, which is an RN variant of the Scheibel Camcopter S-100 UAV, is a rotary-wing tactical system fitted with a Thales-I lightweight airborne surveillance radar.

The RN had

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Lucy Powell

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Lucy Powell


Lucy Powell is Shephard’s Air Reporter. An award-winning journalist with over four years in …

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