• Britain's underwater platform mothership, a minimally manned vessel with a brain coral outer skin. All photos: Royal Navy
    Britain's underwater platform mothership, a minimally manned vessel with a brain coral outer skin. All photos: Royal Navy
  • The underwater platform has 'hex blocks' - drones for underwater transport. They can be stowed away within the fold of the brain coral skin.
    The underwater platform has 'hex blocks' - drones for underwater transport. They can be stowed away within the fold of the brain coral skin.
  • An autonomous vessel with the underwater platform.
    An autonomous vessel with the underwater platform.
  • The navy's future fleet also includes a 'surface combatant mother ship'.
    The navy's future fleet also includes a 'surface combatant mother ship'.
  • A drone ship, which is stowed under the mother ship.
    A drone ship, which is stowed under the mother ship.
  • A base station where fast strike vehicles will dock.
    A base station where fast strike vehicles will dock.
  • A fast strike vehicle.
    A fast strike vehicle.
  • The carrier vessel.
    The carrier vessel.
  • The carrier vessel's unmanned craft.
    The carrier vessel's unmanned craft.

UK Navy's futuristic plans include helium balloon attack craft and coral submarines


Thomas Harding
  • English
  • Arabic

Warships that plummet from the stratosphere into the sea and submarines made from coral have been proposed as futuristic vessels for the Royal Navy.

In a bid to shape Britain's Navy into an ultra-modern force, engineers have been given the freedom to come up with plans using renewable energy and drone technology.

Among the proposals is a giant helium-filled vessel that lingers 30 miles above Earth, able to launch fast strike vehicles that free fall into the sea before coming up to the surface to attack ships.

While some of the ideas put forward appear highly futuristic, others may help the British fleet modernise at a time when the US, Chinese and Russians are all examining innovative battle-winning designs.

“In a future scenario if we find ourselves unable to compete traditionally in terms of mass, we must think differently if we are to regain operational advantage,” said Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Nick Hine. “The young engineers who worked on this project are thinking radically and with real imagination and that reflects how the Royal Navy is thinking too.”

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With a £24 billion ($33bn) increase in spending over the next four years, the Navy is looking to invest in innovative, semi-autonomous warships that will still provide “lethality”, according to its recent Defence Command Paper.

Young designers from the Naval Engineering Science and Technology (UKNEST), have put forward their ideas for the Future Autonomous Fleet programme that could shape how it operates over the next 50 years.

Experts believe that with both the Americans and Chinese currently using stratospheric balloons for surveillance it is not unrealistic to see them mounted with weapons.

The Navy’s proposed airborne ship carrier, powered by solar energy, would contain dozens of fast-strike vessels that would drop then glide to earth, submerge and surface to skim across the waves to launch missiles at ships. The helium balloon would operate for several years in the stratosphere and its height would allow it to deploy stealthy attack ships rapidly to trouble spots around the world.

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A sea-based aircraft carrier proposal would carry drone submarines and fly unmanned aircraft. As well as launching satellites manufactured by utilising 3D printers on board, it would have laser guns, ultra-fast rocket propulsion and potentially be semi-submersible. It would also be powered by helix-shaped wind turbines and for alternative energy use gill fins to extract hydrogen from the sea.

Among the more curious designs is a proposal to build a sparsely manned submarine with the outer skin made from very tough brain coral.

The boat could manufacture and launch hexagonal block drones able to “shape shift” to deceive radars, transport equipment, or create blocks for enemy swarm drones. They could also hitch rides by attaching themselves to the hulls of regular warships for recharging or relocation. The coral-made mother ship would also repair and stow the hex blocks.

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A final proposal is for an autonomous combat vessel that could operate both above and below the waves. The “Trimaran” would carry its own small drone ships under its wing or in the main hull, launching them when close to the enemy.

The Navy will implement one of its futuristic designs this decade — the Persistent Operational Deployment Systems (PODS).

Shaped like a shipping container, PODS will be delivered to warships at sea via heavy-lift drones or autonomous boats delivering unmanned vessels for reconnaissance or quadcopters, to deliver supplies or disaster relief stores ashore.

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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule

1st Test July 26-30 in Galle

2nd Test August 3-7 in Colombo

3rd Test August 12-16 in Pallekele

Fixtures

Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am

Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am

Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am

Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

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There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.

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Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

How to donate

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Rally schedule:

Saturday: Super Special Spectator Stage – Yas Marina Circuit – start 3.30pm.
Sunday: Yas Marina Circuit Stage 1 (276.01km)
Monday: Nissan Stage 2 (287.92km)
Tuesday: Al Ain Water Stage 3 (281.38km)
Wednesday: ADNOC Stage 4 (244.49km)
Thursday: Abu Dhabi Aviation Stage 5 (218.57km) Finish: Yas Marina Circuit – 4.30pm.

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Trippier bio

Date of birth September 19, 1990

Place of birth Bury, United Kingdom

Age 26

Height 1.74 metres

Nationality England

Position Right-back

Foot Right

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Updated: September 15, 2021, 2:55 PM