UK set to decide Atlantic Net mission partner

‘Atlantic Bastion' plans the introduction of an extra large UUV designated Type 93. As well as sensing and sensor deployment, the Type 93 could also include a capability to deploy lethal effects. (BAE Systems)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is just weeks away from choosing a commercial mission partner that will provide a geographically-focused undersea intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) service in the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap region.

Known as ‘Atlantic Net', the contractor-owned, contractor-operated naval oversight (COCONO) delivery model forms the initial strand of the Royal Navy's (RN's) broader ‘Atlantic Bastion' initiative. While neither the MoD nor RN have publicly identified the candidate mission partners, industry sources have told Janes that five consortia - led by Anduril, Babcock, Helsing, Ocean Affinity, and TKMS - remain in contention out of 26 compliant industry proposals initially assessed.

Speaking at the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) 2026 conference held in London from 14-16 April, Captain Chris Hill, project director in the Navy Develop directorate, said that ‘Atlantic Net' was intended to fast-track the delivery of autonomous anti-submarine warfare (ASW) persistent underwater ISR as a COCONO data service. “[It is] there to augment, not replace, crewed platforms and fixed systems, and to mitigate transitional risk across some of the UK sovereign platforms,” he said, adding: “We're in the final stage of the commercial process to downselect to a commercial mission partner.”

Janes understands that the MoD is looking to decide the mission partner before the end of May 2026. The aim is to have the initial ‘Atlantic Net' service up and running by the end of 2026.