Gwyn Jenkins rejects bigger warships in Navy Lookout speech
At navy lookout, First Sea Lord General Gwyn Jenkins told the 2026 Combined Naval Event in Farnborough that the Royal Navy must move away from “ever bigger, ever more expensive platforms.” He set out a future force built around mixed crewed and uncrewed assets. The speech points toward a different direction for programmes still being shaped.
Jenkins said the future approach should be “crewed where necessary, uncrewed wherever possible, integrated always.” He added that resources will always be constrained and that the task is to generate mass and lethality from a wider, more survivable mix of assets rather than concentrate investment in a handful of high-value hulls.
Farnborough keynote
The First Sea Lord delivered the keynote speech at the 2026 Combined Naval Event in Farnborough. In the same remarks, he said autonomy is already changing warfare, citing Ukraine and the Middle East. He also told attendees: “I accept that there are still some hybrid sceptics, but here’s the hard news: we have no time to pander to cynicism or traditionalists, because autonomy is already demonstrably changing the nature of warfare, as evidenced in Ukraine and in the Middle East.”
Those comments linked the Navy’s future fleet direction to systems already entering service concepts. ATLANTIC SHIELD is designed to distribute integrated air and missile defence across a layered network of crewed and uncrewed assets, while ATLANTIC STRIKE is intended to enhance conventional deterrence and reach through a mix of crewed and autonomous platforms.
Type 83 and MRSS
Jenkins’ remarks touched two major programmes that could sit inside that shift. The Future Air Defence System programme is where the Type 83 destroyer is intended to form the core of the Shield. The Multi-Role Strike Ship is the planned replacement for the amphibious assault ships.
That leaves the Royal Navy with a clear design choice: keep concentrating capability in a small number of large hulls, or spread it across a wider mix of platforms, sensors and weapons. Jenkins told the audience that the second option is the one he wants the service to pursue.
£115 million for Gulf test
Jenkins also said he wanted to reassure attendees that the delay of the Defence Investment Plan is not holding the Royal Navy back. He said: “I know many of you are waiting for the defence investment plan. Trust me, when I say we’re not alone, but I want to reassure you that this is not holding us back.”
He said £115 million has already been made available for the hybrid navy programme. The Gulf deployment is its first major test, with the package covering autonomous minehunting equipment, mine clearance specialists, additional capabilities for HMS Dragon and the Project BEEHIVE base of operations.
Project BEEHIVE gives the multinational force a persistent ability to sense, track and identify threats across one of the world’s most congested maritime chokepoints. For readers tracking what changes next, the immediate answer is that the Navy is already spending against this model while the broader investment plan remains delayed.
