Russia’s threats towards Britain in recent weeks of ‘consequences’ for its continued support of Ukraine have allowed the government to start warning the electorate of the scale and nature of the new dangers the UK faces – from Russia and from its allies. The baton has now been taken up by the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins. Appearing on the Defence Talks podcast, Jenkins warned of potential ‘catastrophic events’. Nato, he said, would currently ‘struggle to contain’ Russia’s maritime strength in undersea warfare. This covers a wide spectrum, from conventional crewed submarines familiar from our conception of the Cold War to autonomous underwater vehicles – drones of the sea rather than the sky – operating from and in concert with crewed motherships.

This is consistent with the First Sea Lord’s vision of creating a hybrid Navy, as he proposed in a speech at the RUSI think tank in April. He referred to ‘the vulnerability of traditional platforms’ like aircraft carriers and other large surface ships. This is a challenge of which Russia is all too aware, having lost the guided missile cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, three patrol boats, two landing ships and around 23 various other vessels to Ukrainian drone and missile strikes.

Command of the seas has always been vital to Britain’s success and survival

Command........

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