Uncrewed boats remain testbeds for a crewed fleet

Twenty uncrewed boats are useful testbeds because the technology is still too immature to replace crewed warships. Open questions include whether these vessels can tow sonar arrays, survive helicopter attack, or operate in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Pacific, or Indian Ocean. The Atlantic Bastion concept keeps Type 26 frigates and submarines in high-threat positions while crewed ships coordinate uncrewed assets across a wider sensor net. Uncrewed craft can multiply a force, but weather, sensing, protection, mission maturity, and crewed command capacity still limit what they can do.