Alongside its F35B stealth jets and naval helicopters, flagship HMS Prince of Wales’ air group will also consist of nine powerful octo-copters for remotely moving items – food, packages from home and engineering parts – around the task group on its mission east.
The trial of the new systems alongside crewed aircraft is intended to free up the more expensive helicopters to focus on their primary role of protecting the task force from danger on its mission to the Far East.
Drone specialist 700X Naval Air Squadron from Royal Navy Air Station Culdrose is embarking a team of 12 sailors to operate nine air systems, initially from three ships in the group to test the capability.
Lieutenant Matt Parfitt, a drone flight commander with 700X NAS, said: “There is a statistic from previous carrier strike deployments that shows 95 per cent of stores transferred weigh less than 50kg. They could be anything from parcels from home to a vital engineering part.
“In the past we’d have used a helicopter if a part was urgently needed on another ship. This time we’re going to use a remotely-piloted, uncrewed system instead. We are aware that we’re trialling new things and, because it’s not been done before on this scale, the eyes of the fleet will be on us.”
With eight rotor blades – each around two feet in length – an endurance of between 20 to 40 minutes, top speed of 60mph, and able to lift up to 68kg, the Malloy T-150 is not just your average drone.
It needs a team of two, one remote pilot and a second to monitor the drone’s command unit, and can be flown manually or autonomously to designated waypoints with an underslung cargo.
The rapid change and use of drone technology is driving the Royal Navy to adapt new systems and practices at record speed. Changes that would normally take years were now being done in months.
Built by private company Malloy, the new drones were created as a result of a research and development project led by the Ministry of Defence to accelerate its use of new technology.
Lieutenant Parfitt added: “We only got these Malloy systems last August. Since then we’ve had to learn how to fly and maintain them and how to integrate them into the crewed aviation space. That’s an awful lot of regulations and documentation that has to be done, which is a lot of work for us as we prepare to deploy.
“These systems have only really been used over land before, so we’re also having to understand how we can operate and maintain them in the maritime environment.
“Everybody is working at maximum speed to get everything ready. It has been challenging and difficult, but that’s also exciting too. This is exactly the sort of thing we joined the navy to do, and certainly why we joined this squadron.”
Another example of how 700X NAS is pushing the boundaries of naval practice is in its diverse membership, drawing sailors from different branches of the navy to build a corps of dedicated and qualified drone personnel.
Able Rate Michael Page joined the navy as a naval airman aircraft handler, and has now retrained as a remote pilot, qualified to fly and supervise others on Malloy and small fixed-wing Puma drones.
“It’s a lot different from being an aircraft handler,” he said. “You’ve got a lot more responsibility in this role and they don’t just need to look at your rank, instead they look at your level of skill too.
“It’s been really good. I’ve enjoy going on all types of ships and I’ve already been deployed to the Far East, west Africa and the Caribbean.”
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