Britain must embrace a hybrid naval fleet of AI drones and autonomous ships to become an "AI drone superpower," according to former Second Sea Lord Sir Nick Hine. He dismissed critics of the plan, urging them to "stop naysaying."
Home-built warships and drones
Sir Nick insisted that constructing new warships and drones domestically is "the right thing for UK shipbuilding." However, the Washington-based Centre for European Policy Analysis has labelled the proposal a "dangerous illusion" driven by cost-cutting.
Responding to detractors, Sir Nick drew historical parallels: "People said this about subways, they said this about steamships, and they said it about nuclear power." He added, "So can all the naysayers just stop naysaying? In fact, just stop saying anything."
The 'Terminator at sea' debate
Sir Nick highlighted the shift away from traditional destroyers, noting, "We didn’t have destroyers before the First World War. Now we’re not going to have destroyers going forward. Get over yourselves – it’s just an adjective."
He addressed the debate between those favouring manned destroyers and those advocating for autonomous vessels, which he dubbed "Terminator at sea." "The naysayers come in two camps. The ‘have a destroyer’ camp or the ‘have a terminator at sea’ camp. But neither of those things is right," he said.
Funding and capability concerns
The Defence Investment Plan allocates nearly £3 billion to the Navy for autonomous drones, instead of like-for-like replacements of the more expensive manned Type 45 destroyers. Sir Nick, who now works for defence giant Babcock, dismissed suggestions that this would weaken the Navy's capabilities, stating, "The effect you're trying to create is deliverable in a different way."
Babcock has drawn up blueprints for a "command strike drone" that would operate like a robot warship. However, Sir Nick stressed that this is far from reality and that robot ships will "still need to have some kind of command." He added, "Let's get comfortable operating drones at sea first. Having a really sophisticated AI model that you trust completely to do anything? We're years away from that. I mean, that's a terminator at sea. Governments are not yet in that space, so let's be real."
