UK to scrap Type 45 replacement, invest in drone command ships

Britain has scrapped plans to replace its six Type 45 destroyers with a like-for-like new destroyer class and will instead buy at least six Common Combat Vessels to act as command hubs for drones in the air, on the surface and beneath the sea.

The current Type 45 fleet was built for anti-aircraft and anti-missile warfare. Sea Viper gives the class the ability to detect, track and destroy aerial threats, and the system can launch eight missiles in under ten seconds. The Type 45 is the only British ship able to intercept ballistic missiles.

The Strategic Defence Review 2025 calls for a new Hybrid Navy combining crewed and uncrewed platforms and says the Defence Investment Plan should be affordable, flexible and ready to seize new technology opportunities. In June 2025, the government said more than £4 billion would go into autonomous systems, including over £2 billion of new funding. By December 2025, UK Defence Innovation said it would spend more than £142 million in its first year on drone and counter-drone technology.

The Royal Navy has already received its first fleet of uncrewed vessels under Project Beehive, and a government tender showed a requirement for 20 uncrewed surface vessels for training, tactics, capability development and operations. In March 2026, HMS Dragon deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean with Wildcat helicopters armed with Martlet missiles for counter-drone duties.

In January 2026, the Ministry of Defence said the Type 83 destroyer, once intended to replace Type 45 from around 2035, was under review against the Hybrid Navy strategy. Ministers tied the shift to lessons from Ukraine and to a defence budget that is due to rise to 2.5% of GDP from 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament.