No captain, my captain: Navantia floats crewless warship
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No captain, my captain: Navantia floats crewless warship
Spanish shipbuilder's 75-meter drone vessel comes with sensors, modular payloads, and no room for sailors
Dan Robinson
Dan<br>Robinson
Published<br>sun 24 May 2026 // 09:30 UTC
Shipbuilder Navantia has put forward a design for an uncrewed<br>warship intended to complement existing naval vessels in what has been dubbed a<br>"hybrid navy," although it may not be an exact fit for any current requirements.<br>Developed by the UK arm of the Spanish firm, the Large<br>Autonomous Surface Vessel, or LASV75, is basically a large seagoing drone that<br>is armed like a conventional warship.
Two LASV75 uncrewed surface vessels accompanying a Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer at sea<br>Navantia
As its name suggests, the LASV75 is 75 meters long, making it<br>about half as long as one of the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers and closer in size to one of the River-class patrol vessels, with a displacement of about 1,000<br>tonnes.
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It is designed to be entirely uncrewed, with no bridge or<br>crew spaces, and adaptable for different missions via a modular design. Promotional<br>images also show the vessel carrying several shipping containers, which<br>have become a common way for navies to quickly add extra capabilities to a<br>vessel.
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According to Navantia, the design allows for construction of<br>the drone at pace and scale, and it is expected to cost significantly less than<br>crewed warships, although the company did not specify exactly how quickly or cheaply it could be built.<br>The modularity extends to both mission payloads and<br>engineering systems, Navantia told us, allowing the LASV75 to be tailored to<br>the roles required, from installed power to weapons and sensor capability.<br>A prominent feature is a mast designed to host a number of<br>sensor configurations, but we were puzzled by the apparent lack of funnels for<br>engine exhaust. The ship is equipped with Integrated Full Electric Power and<br>Propulsion (IFEP), Navantia said, meaning it uses diesel generators to drive<br>electric motors and power everything else aboard. It has waterline<br>exhausts.
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The LASV75 was designed to meet the Royal Navy's concept of<br>a hybrid navy, but also to serve wider demand for autonomous vessels. Its size will<br>enable it to have the range and endurance for task group operations in the open<br>ocean, the company claims, so it can undertake escort duties or support the Royal<br>Navy's Atlantic<br>Bastion strategy to protect undersea infrastructure around the UK, such as cables and pipelines, and to track Russian submarines.<br>The vessel could potentially meet the requirement for a Type 92 sloop that the Royal Navy outlined for Atlantic Bastion, effectively an uncrewed ship that can patrol the North Atlantic looking out for submarines.<br>This role is currently filled by the Type 23 frigate, and will be taken by the Type 26 when that comes into service, but the expectation<br>is that a flotilla of uncrewed Type 92 vessels would allow for greater uninterrupted coverage of the ocean.<br>"Autonomous vessels are fundamental to the future of<br>sovereign defence capabilities. Naval capabilities of the future will comprise<br>a hybrid mixture of crewed warships with uncrewed escorts and ancillary ships,"<br>said Derek Jones, Navantia UK chief commercial and business development officer.<br>"At Navantia UK, we're investing heavily<br>in our four shipyards to turn them into ideal partners to<br>deliver this vision of the future."
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The company is currently building the Fleet Solid Support<br>(FSS) vessels for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which will provide supplies to<br>Royal Navy ships at sea. ®
autonomous surface vessel<br>royal navy<br>hybrid navy<br>uncrewed warship<br>navantia<br>offbeat
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