Navantia unveiled plans for a 75-metre large autonomous surface vessel (LASV) designed with the British Royal Navy’s Hybrid Navy concept in mind.
The LASV75 drone was revealed to the public for the first time last week at Navy Leaders’ Combined Naval Event 2026, the largest annual naval event in Europe.
Conceived by the Spanish shipbuilding giant’s U.K. arm, the uncrewed surface vessel has been designed to accommodate a series of mission-specific modular payloads: sensor, effectors, or a combination of the two.
Its modular decks will be capable of accommodating naval guns, Vertical Launch Systems (VLS), uncrewed aerial system (UAS) containers, and modular masts hosting air surveillance radars and sensors.
As per a company statement: “Navantia UK’s design will provide sustained capability thanks to its size, range, and speed characteristics, with adaptability for different missions through intelligent modularity.
“The vessel is designed from the keel up to operate without a crew, offering high levels of availability. The LASV75 can be built on a large scale and at high speed, at a significantly lower cost than crewed vessels.”
The firm said increased automation technologies at its four shipyards, currently part of a major modernisation drive, means it expects to reduce standard design and construction times for large ships by almost a third, producing large platforms faster and more cheaply.
It revealed good progress was being made on the £1.6 billion Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme; steel was cut on the first FSS vessel at its Appledore yard in December, and earlier this month the Seahorse, an 85-meter barge to transport FSS ship blocks and components from Appledore to Belfast, was launched in Methil.
Navantia UK’s commercial and business development director Derek Jones commented: “Autonomous ships are fundamental to the future of sovereign defence capabilities. Future naval capabilities will consist of a hybrid combination of manned warships with unmanned escorts and auxiliary vessels.
“At Navantia UK, we are investing significantly in our four shipyards to make them ideal partners for realizing this vision for the future… our facilities are being transformed into some of the most advanced shipyards in Europe. At the same time, we are making rapid progress on the Fleet Solid Support program, which involves building some of the largest ships in the armed forces.”
- You can read more details on the Navantia website