Denmark’s doubled deployment, Mediterranean smuggling routes and Norwegian composite hulls show where uncrewed surveillance demand is heading, while British funding remains unclear.
The 50m, six-person ship from the Italian shipbuilder carries swappable, containerised payloads instead of a fixed mission, reflecting a shift that is becoming increasingly evident.
Ares Shipyard CEO says that the first Ulaq USV should be delivered by the end of 2021, and a foreign customer is interested in the anti-submarine warfare variant.
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace first announced the Refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy on 16 March at the Society of Maritime Industries Annual Conference, adding it would include a 30-year pipeline of all government vessels over 150...