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Job Role
Warfare Specialist
Job Role

Warfare Specialist

You’ll detect threats to your ship, identify targets and make crucial tactical decisions.

TechnologyWeaponsStrategicTacticalWarfareApprenticeshipsAWTAWWEWUW
  • £25,200 - £62,073
  • No qualifications
  • Surface Fleet
  • Warfare
  • Rating level

At a glance

This job sits within the Warfare Profession and is a Warfare Rating role. You’re the one who identifies our targets, and our threats. You’re there at the start of every mission, and play a vital role throughout. From working in the ops room of a warship to preparing essential weaponry.

£25,200

What you will get paid from day one

Zero

Qualifications needed

£62,073

Earn up to this amount as a WO1 basic pay depending on skills and experience as your career progresses

Free

Medical and dental care

6 weeks

Of paid holiday every year

Travel

All around the world
Gunner in action
As a Warfare Specialist I get to operate state of the art equipment, weapons and I also get to travel the world with people I am proud to call my friends.

Barry

Warfare Specialist, Warfare Branch

Role details

What you’ll do

Being a Warfare Specialist in the Royal Navy means you’re the person who identifies our targets, and our threats. Whether working in the Operations Room or on the ship's Weapon Systems you will be the heartbeat of the war-fighting effort. This job comes with serious responsibility, get it wrong and the ship could sustain damage, get it right and the enemy is defeated.

Your role

There are four sub-specialisations for Warfare Specialist:

  • Abovewater Warfare Tactical:  You will work with some of the most advanced and sophisticated RADAR and Computer Systems on the planet.
  • Abovewater Warfare Weapons:  You will be trained to operate state-of-the-art weapon and missile systems.
  • Electronic Warfare:  You will operate specialist equipment to assist to intercept and analyse electromagnetic (RADAR) emissions to determine their identity.
  • Underwater Warfare:  You will become the Royal Navy's 'Submarine Hunters', trained in how to operate the most advanced SONAR systems.

Pay & benefits

  • A starting salary of at least £25,200
  • Increasing up to £62,073 as a WO1 basic pay depending on skills and experience as your career progresses
  • An excellent pension scheme
  • Six weeks of paid holiday every year
  • Free medical and dental care

Skills for life

Qualifications you'll gain

  • Attain a Level 3 Data Technician Apprenticeship
  • Study for GCSEs, A-Levels, NVQs or a degree
  • Gain specialist vocational qualifications as your career progresses

Skills you'll develop

  • The ability to work accurately and calmly under extreme pressure
  • Become a master at analysing complex information, using your tactical knowledge to produce concise and insightful reports

Eligibility

  • You must be aged 16 to 39
  • No qualifications are required for this role
  • You must be a United Kingdom citizen or British Dual National. Dual Nationality restrictions do apply
  • You must have lived in the UK for 5 years continuously prior to application
  • A Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 and 28 (between 17 and 27 if under 18)

Skills & Interests

  • An ability to thrive in high-pressure situations; we will teach you to thrive in a high-pressure situation
  • Teamwork
  • A passion for life at sea
  • A real sense of adventure, with a high level of physical and mental fitness

Joining Process

From picking your role to starting on your first day, these are the steps you'll take to join as a rating.

Step 1

Submit an application

Once you’ve registered your interest in a Profession, and have satisfied some basic eligibility criteria, you will be sent an online application form.

Step 2

Defence Aptitude Assessment (DAA)

You’ll be tested on: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Work Rate, Spatial Reasoning, Electrical Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension. You will need to attempt all sections of the DAA.

To help you prepare, you can practise the DAA.

Practise the DAA
Step 3

Interview

A formal Selection Interview to confirm suitability of your chosen Profession followed by discussion of your preferred roles that are available within that Profession, including Submarine Service It will also cover the initial stages of the Security application. This is normally conducted using your own device over the Shine video platform.

Step 4

Candidate Preparation Course (CPC)

This is a four-day induction to life in the Royal Navy, which includes assessments of your Fitness and your Medical eligibility, it is a pass or fail course.

Step 5

Start training

Once you’ve passed all eligibility criteria, including a Security Check, you’ll be offered a place at HMS Raleigh to commence your initial training. Allocation to a specific role within your chosen profession will occur during the latter part of initial training.

Career Progression

From responsibilities to pay, find out where this role can take you.
Day one
Start basic training for ten weeks at HMS Raleigh.
First year
Complete phase two professional training and join your first unit at sea.
First promotion
Complete your taskbook and pass annual tests to become Able Warfare Specialist 1.

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