Royal Navy will not receive new Type 83 missile destroyers. Instead plans to order completely new ship type, drone command ships.
Overall six such ships are planned, which will begin reinforcing British fleet already in early 2030s. Newly appointed British Defense Minister Dan Jarvis, who replaced John Healey who resigned June 11 accusing government of neglecting defense funding needs, reported this in Sunday Times interview.
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This new drone command ship type is also designed to provide air defense as well as extend Navy range, resilience and firepower without proportional crew or cost increase. Besides that, implied is it will serve as hub for various drone types: maritime, underwater and UAVs.
Defense Express notes transition to new naval concept in Britain would have been impossible without Ukraine's war against russia experience. Because specifically Ukraine's Defense Forces managed using missiles and drones to drive overwhelmingly superior so-called russian Black Sea Fleet into bays, effectively remove it from war and methodically finish it off. At the same time, Defense Forces use aerial, surface and already underwater drones.
Also worth adding Britain already has developments in this sphere. Specifically British defense giant BAE Systems back in September 2025 showed its concept for these ships, precisely as traditional destroyer replacement.
Concept shown then envisioned creating based on Type 26 frigate an Air Warfare Command Ship, which will play drone control center role, powerful sensor platform and air defense ship. It should have weapons with 128 universal launch cells, as well as combat lasers for anti-ship missile and drone protection.
Through automation its crew should comprise up to 100 personnel, approximately half that of British Type 45 destroyer, or three times fewer than American Arleigh Burke.
Around Air Warfare Command Ship, Sensor Effector Platform maritime drones creation is envisioned, which can have various equipment and tasks. Overall these will be trimarans approximately 100 meters long with 20 meter width. Strike version should have 32 launch cells and small-caliber artillery for self-defense. Optionally, crew control capability of 6-12 personnel is provided.
However, as UK Defense Journal writes, alternative is Babcock project also proposing drone control center creation based on Type 31 frigate. At the same time as in BAE Systems project case, large unmanned ships of American shipyard HII's Romulus family are involved.
Overall both company concepts are quite similar and envision creating autonomous system of systems relying on broad artificial intelligence algorithm application.
In any case, detailed plan of new British Navy program, as promised by government, should appear within days. At the same time, emphasis on maximizing British industry participation should be expected.
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