UK’s new experimental warship Patrick Blackett kicks off sea trials

NavyX’s unique trials ship, XV (eXperimental Vessel) Patrick Blackett, left Portsmouth Naval Base yesterday to undergo sea acceptance trials, ensuring the vessel and equipment onboard are fully functioning and ready to support innovative experimentation.

The start of the ship’s operations with NavyX is an exciting moment for the innovation and autonomy team as it allows them to independently test and trial novel technologies, which in turn allows the warships of the Royal Navy to focus their time and efforts on their operational duties.

The 270-tonne vessel, which bears the name of the former Royal Navy Officer and Nobel Prize Winner Patrick Blackett, is paving the way for advanced experimentation, innovation, and future capabilities within the Royal Navy.

As the date for setting sail has drawn ever closer, more of the NavyX team have been involved in ensuring XV Patrick Blackett is prepared for testing and trialling innovative technology for the Royal Navy. NavyX also operate two of the Royal Navy’s autonomous vessels, MADFOX and APAC-24.

“The hard work that we’ve all put into this project is all worth it to be able to see the ship doing the work she was intended for. Now we can look forward to planning her experimentation programme,” Reece Oliver, NavyX Experimentation Plans Team Lead, said

To remind, the Royal Navy has unveiled the new testbed ship to support trials of the latest tech and autonomous systems.