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Drone first by Royal Navy points way to ‘hybrid air wings’ of tomorrow
30 May 2025
A small drone acted as the ‘flying eyes’ for a Royal Navy helicopter in a first on operations.
Crew of a Merlin helicopter turned off their radar – and instead relied on a drone and its controllers to close in on ‘suspect’ vessels in the Atlantic.
It’s the first time the Royal Navy has used a drone to help direct the actions of crewed aircraft and helps lay the foundations for the transition to a new era of maritime aviation.
The Merlin Mk2 is the Navy’s premier league submarine hunter, used extensively around the world to watch out for hostile activity beneath the waves.
Thanks to its impressive and potent suite of sensors the multi-million-pound helicopter also plays a key role in sweeps for potential surface threats.
But operating from tanker RFA Tidespring in the Atlantic, the crew of a Merlin from 814 Naval Air Squadron switched off their radar and relied instead on information coming back from a Puma.
At just over 4½ft long and with a wingspan of 9ft, the Puma is one of the smallest drone operated by the Fleet Air Arm.
Operated by controllers based on a ship or on land, it flies for up to two hours feeding back/recording imagery, providing vital reconnaissance and gathering intelligence.
Puma has been in service with Culdrose-based 700X Naval Air Squadron, the Fleet Air Arm’s squadron dedicated to exploiting crewless tech, for several years – but until now it has been used independently, or with other drones.
Culdrose’s Commanding Officer Captain James Hall said his team was pushing the boundaries to merge crewed and uncrewed aviation to create fully integrated air power.
“While this is only a relatively small step, it lays the groundwork for how we can build the integrated, hybrid air wing of the future,” he added.
“It allows us to work towards our ambition of routinely operating crewed and uncrewed air systems during the same operation.”
Captain Hall continued: “The challenge for our deployed crews is to identify where drones can support our war fighting capability, and where we can further improve.
The challenge for our deployed crews is to identify where drones can support our war fighting capability, and where we can further improve.
“This allows the team back at RNAS Culdrose, under the leadership of 700X NAS, to spiral-develop the capability in terms of how it is employed and how it can be enhanced at pace.
“Ultimately, we are aiming to keep improving the combination of our crewed aircraft and maritime drones to keep pace with emerging technology and to accelerate the introduction of autonomy.
“The key concept here is what is known as a force multiplying effect – that is the ability to increase our effectiveness by combining our air and sea assets, rather than if they worked individually, and thereby increasing our warfighting capability.”
Puma is a light-weight fixed-wing surveillance drone which can be launched conveniently by hand.
Captain Hall added: “A ship could easily deploy multiple drones to identify multiple possible threats. While these drones are not expendable – they do come with a cost after all – losses can be tolerated and at far less risk than a helicopter and its aircrew.
“However, combining such systems raises multiple challenges, such as how the aircraft work together safely, how data is relayed accurately from drones back to the ship and out to the aircrew, and how they can act upon that information.
“These are not trivial challenges and the Royal Navy is constantly developing solutions to these issues. As we transition towards a new era of maritime aviation, this new technology will allow us to detect, deter and defeat threats at a greater range and ensure our operational resilience.”
Puma is part of a growing suite of uncrewed systems operated by 700X NAS making an impact on front-line operations.
Malloy heavy-lift drones are deployed with the Carrier Strike Group as part of trials for moving supplies between ships in the task force, as well as supporting operations ashore.
And the Peregrine mini-helicopter is proving an essential addition to operations in the Gulf where, for the second time this year, it was integral to a drugs bust by HMS Lancaster.
RFA Tidespring will provide fuel and supplies for the UK’s Carrier Strike Group as it moves into the next phase of its 2025 deployment, supporting operations in the Indo-Pacific region.