In A First, Royal Navy To Use Drones To Deliver Critical Supplies Between Warships

The Royal Navy will use a fleet of drones to transport important supplies between ships during its upcoming mission to the Indo-Pacific for the first time.

This is done to support the UK Carrier Strike Group led by HMS Prince of Wales, set to deploy later this month.

The air group onboard the navy’s flagship vessel will now include nine powerful octocopter drones, along with F35B stealth jets and naval helicopters.

These drones will carry food, engineering parts, and personal packages from home between the ships in the group.

This new system is being tested to reduce the workload on helicopters, which are more expensive to operate. Instead of using helicopters for lighter tasks, they can now focus on protecting the task group from threats during the mission.

The drone operations will be handled by 700X Naval Air Squadron, a specialist team from Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose.

A group of 12 sailors from this squadron will manage the nine drones, which will initially operate from three ships within the group.

A drone flight commander from 700X NAS shared that data from earlier carrier strike missions showed that 95% of the transferred supplies weighed less than 50 kilograms.

Drone deliveries…

For the first time a fleet of drones will fly crucial supplies between ships of the UK Carrier Strike Group when it deploys to the Indo-Pacific later this month.

— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) April 7, 2025

These included everything from urgent mechanical parts to packages from families. In the past, helicopters were used for even small deliveries, but this time, the team will rely on uncrewed systems.

He said that since this approach hasn’t been done on such a large scale before, the entire fleet will be watching closely to see how it performs.

The drones being used are Malloy T-150s each equipped with eight rotor blades about two feet long. They can fly at a speed of up to 60 miles per hour, carry loads of up to 68 kilograms, and stay in the air for 20 to 40 minutes.

Each drone requires two people to operate: one pilot and another operator to monitor the system. They can also be flown automatically using pre-set waypoints while carrying items underneath.

These drones were developed by a private company called Malloy and were created through a Ministry of Defence research and development program aimed at speeding up the use of modern technology in the armed forces.

The drone commander explained that the team only received the Malloy systems in August of last year. Since then, they have worked rapidly to learn how to fly, maintain, and use the drones safely alongside other aircraft.

He added that the team had to handle a lot of rules and documentation to prepare for the deployment. Since these drones have mainly been used on land, the sailors also had to learn how to operate and care for them in marine environments.

According to him, although the process has been demanding, it is also thrilling and exactly the kind of work that draws people to join the Navy and this special squadron.

700X NAS is also known for its diverse team. Sailors from different departments are brought together to build a skilled drone unit.

One sailor, Able Rate Michael Page, who earlier worked as a naval airman aircraft handler, has now trained as a drone pilot. He is now certified to fly the Malloy drones and small fixed-wing Puma drones, and can also supervise others.

Page explained that his new role involves much more responsibility that his previous one. He mentioned that in this unit, skill matters more than rank.

He further added that he has enjoyed travelling and has already been deployed to regions like the Far East, West Africa and the Caribbean.

Reference: Royal Navy

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