Graham Allen – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Allen on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has (a) invested in and (b) made an assessment of the potential merits of acquiring unmanned underwater vehicles.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Royal Navy (RN) currently deploys unmanned systems to enhance maritime surveillance and improve situational awareness in a number of operational theatres.

Specifically for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV), the Hunt Class Mine Countermeasure Vessels employ a UUV for remote mine-disposal, known as the Seafox mine-disposal system. In addition, the Fleet Diving Squadron employs a small UUV for seabed searches.

It is widely recognised that autonomous systems offer a unique opportunity to maintain our operational advantage and the RN will therefore continue to explore how such systems can further augment its capabilities into the future.