General Sir Gwyn Jenkins addresses the International Sea Power Conference
First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins addressed the International Sea Power Conference in Norway.
Thank you Kyrre, and thank you to my fellow JEF chiefs for joining us to sign this Agreement.
After nine months of hard work, I’m delighted that the JEF Northern Navies Initiative has today taken a huge step forward.
Together, we have shown what is possible when like-minded nations are united by a common purpose.
This conference has left us in no doubt that the world has changed – that the threats we face are multiplying and that we must rise to the challenge before us.
In recent years, there has been a recognition – rightly – that the UK and our European allies must step up and defend what we hold most dear.
What I hope we have demonstrated today, through this Agreement, is that we are doing exactly that.
I also want to thank everyone in this room, for the honesty, challenge, and ideas you have brought to this conference.
At times, the discussions in this hangar have been sobering.
I have said before that we are back in an era of state-on-state contest. And for many of us in this room, even those of us with long careers in uniform, that is unfamiliar territory.
It feels unsettling, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. But I leave today with something else as well.
Hope.
Because the lesson of the last few years is that we are not powerless. All of us here, ministers, military planners, industry leaders, we all have agency.
What matters is whether we are prepared to act, and whether we can adapt quickly enough.
Listening to the Ukrainian ambassador earlier really brought that home. Five years ago, when the Russian tanks rolled in, very few people gave Ukraine much of a chance.
But today, Ukrainians are still fighting.
They have adapted constantly, combined extraordinary courage with technology and innovation, and refused to accept the future others had written for them.
Above all, they still believe.
And so do I.
I am under no illusion about the world we face. The risk of conflict is rising.
Russia will continue to test our resolve and look for weakness. But war is not inevitable – not if our enemies believe that we are serious. Prepare for war if you want peace.
That saying is sixteen hundred-years old – and it remains true today. That means continuing to build our strength, adapting faster, standing together and demonstrating that, if required, we are ready to fight.
We have set out our vision to rebuild the Royal Navy – now is the time for action.
Eighteen months ago, I became the First Sea Lord. It has been, and will remain, the greatest privilege of my professional life.
Since the day I started, my core mission has been to do one thing: to rebuild the Royal Navy and refocus it on its fundamental purpose: to lead, fight and win.
The Defence Secretary recently made clear the task before us: we must be ready to do so within 1,000 days.
That is why everything the Royal Navy now does is focussed on the end of the decade, so that we are ready to protect our nation, alongside NATO and our allies.
The journey we are on is challenging, and we still have a long way to go. But each month we are building.
What motivates me every day is the knowledge that we have turned a corner. That we, the Royal Navy, are now in a period of renewal.
And you can see that renewal in steel.
We are embarking on the most extensive recapitalisation of the Royal Navy since the Second World War.
Thirteen new frigates are already in build, including the Type 26s we will operate alongside Norway.
They will be followed by six Common Combat Vessels, designed to command our uncrewed systems.
Beneath the sea, we are renewing the nuclear deterrent with four Dreadnought submarines, completing the Astute programme and, through AUKUS, preparing for our next generation of up to a dozen attack submarines.
Four new amphibious ships will give our Commandos greater reach, while four Fleet Solid Support ships will sustain the Fleet around the world.
Across our existing programme, that is 280,000 tonnes of new steel, rising to around 450,000 tonnes when planned programmes are included.
Yes, we have challenges in the here and now.
We all know what those are.
But the Royal Navy remains a world leader, and we are relentlessly focussed on improving availability and getting more of our ships to sea.
And the future is undeniably bright.
We are now engaged in wholesale renewal of the fighting Fleet, the nuclear deterrent and the support that keeps both at sea.
That should send a clear message to our allies and adversaries alike.
That we, as a nation, are fully committed to strengthening our maritime power. But that is only a part of our journey.
Because if we are to overcome the threats and challenges we have been discussing today, the Royal Navy has to be able to fight and generate combat power in a different way.
That is why we are delivering the Hybrid Navy.
Last year, when I addressed this conference, the Hybrid Navy was still largely a vision on paper.
Today, 12 months on, that is no longer the case.
The Hybrid Navy is here, and the progress we have made is there for all to see. In response to the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, we mobilised rapidly and worked with many of you in this room to form a multinational coalition.
We converted RFA Lyme Bay into a mothership for autonomous minehunting systems, and we secured a fleet of several dozen Kraken USVs in just a few months.
Last week, we commissioned the Royal Navy’s 1st Autonomous Squadron in Portsmouth – a truly historic milestone for the Hybrid Navy.
For the first time, autonomy has a permanent operational home in the Fleet. At its heart will be our fleet of Kraken scouts.
The Squadron’s first task will be coastal defence, using uncrewed vessels to monitor our approaches, protect critical infrastructure and respond more quickly to hostile activity.
And the Kraken fleet will not stand still.
Today, I can announce that we will integrate a counter-drone capability onto our Kraken scouts in the new year.
That will give us a lower-cost and adaptable way to defeat airborne threats, preserving our most advanced missiles for the threats that genuinely require them.
That is a clear advantage that Hybrid Navy gives us.
By integrating these interceptors on Kraken, we are learning lessons from Ukraine and demonstrating that a sledgehammer is no longer required to crack a nut.
Alongside the new Squadron, last week we also opened the Royal Navy Capability Accelerator Hub in Portsmouth.
It is a delivery engine for the Hybrid Navy, bringing operators, capability teams, engineers and industry together under one roof.
Its purpose is to identify what the Fleet needs, rapidly test proven or near-ready technology, integrate it safely and get capability to the front line at the pace we need.
The Squadron and the Accelerator are two parts of the same system. One accelerates the Hybrid capability. The other takes it to the fight. It has been a year of action.
But we are still on a journey – and next year there is even more to come. As the Minister announced this morning, phase one of Atlantic Bastion, Atlantic Net, will become operational within months.
Working with Ocean Infinity, it will help us detect hostile underwater activity earlier and strengthen our protection of critical infrastructure.
And the advantage we gain from it extends beyond the Royal Navy, to our NATO and JEF allies, who will also benefit from a much clearer picture of what is happening under the surface.
Then there is our contribution in the air domain.
Normally, this hangar is home to our F-35Bs, Merlins and Wildcats. But in future, they will not be stationed here alone.
They will be joined here by uncrewed teammates who put the ‘Hybrid’ into our Hybrid Air Wing.
Among them will be our first jet-powered drones, known as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, or CCA.
Last year, I said I wanted the first of those CCAs to be launched from the carrier flight deck by next year.
When I said that, there was probably a bit of scepticism in the room. Well today, here in Oslo, I can confirm that we are taking another big step forward.
In two days’ time, on this carrier, I will sign a statement of intent with our friends at Northrop Grumman to prepare their TALON demonstrator for trials with the Royal Navy under Project VANQUISH.
That demonstrator is here with me on this stage.
Through that agreement, we will work towards a demonstration in UK waters in 2027, including a launch from the carrier.
It will give us the evidence we need to understand how uncrewed combat aircraft can operate safely and effectively alongside the existing air wing. Then we learn, adapt and keep moving forward.
That is how we deliver capability at the pace necessary.
Not by waiting years for a perfect solution, but by working with industry to get the latest technology into the hands of our people as quickly as possible. Of course, moving at pace carries some risk.
But the Royal Navy has been working with risk for centuries, from Nelson to Fisher.
It is what has helped us repeatedly gain operational advantage. The one risk none of us can accept is being asked to fight and realising we were not ready.
More importantly, the opportunity that the Hybrid Navy represents is huge. Not just because it will transform the way we fight, but because it can create real economic opportunity for Britain.
The Royal Navy is not separate from Britain’s economic prosperity – our job is to protect it, while also becoming an engine that helps deliver it.
UK shipbuilding already generates billions of pounds for our economy and sustains thousands of jobs all over the country.
From the Clyde, to Rosyth, Barrow and Belfast, to Birkenhead and the Solent. Supply chains for all of this recapitalisation span the entire UK, in every region. But now, we have the opportunity to go much further.
Britain and the Royal Navy are leading the world in maritime autonomy. The Hybrid Navy is already creating the demand at home.
But if we get this right, we can build British industrial advantage in one of the biggest global markets of the coming decades.
The export potential, the ability to work with allies and strengthen our industrial base is genuinely exciting.
That it is why I talk constantly about the need for a stronger partnership with industry.
And it’s why I’m delighted that here in Oslo, at ISPC and Atlantic Future Forum, we have more than 80 leading industry partners onboard, with more than 700 delegates attending.
This is the largest gathering of business leaders ever convened on a UK carrier, and it is exactly what we need to really drive our relationship forward and ensure we are all on the same page.
Because I’ll be really frank: I do not believe the Royal Navy can build the Hybrid Navy at the speed we need it by doing things the way we have always done. During my career, I have seen too many examples of what happens when institutions become too set in their ways.
So I need industry alongside us from the start.
I want industry talking directly to the operators who will use their equipment. I want technology tested in realistic conditions – and the solutions you bring us must be simpler, adaptable and capable of being scaled rapidly.
For our part, the Navy must explain clearly what it needs and open the door to smaller companies and new ideas.
And when a system is proven to work, we must invest.
Because this is not just an issue of how we procure capability – it is fundamental to being warfighting ready.
This is also bigger than just the Royal Navy.
It is about ensuring that the UK continues to realise its potential as a maritime nation.
So that we continue to project and deploy sea power to protect our society and stand by our allies, as we have done for centuries. Leadership in the Euro-Atlantic is a responsibility the United Kingdom attaches profound importance to.
We know we must bring others with us, continue to ensure our actions match our words, and that we remain an indispensable ally to all our international colleagues in this room.
I take that responsibility personally.
And the pledge I make to you today is this: the Royal Navy will be ready, we will continue to lead, and when our allies need us, we will not be found wanting. I began this speech by saying that I leave this conference with hope.
I did not say that because I am a blind optimist.
I said it because the evidence is there in everything I have seen and heard today.
I’ve watched a group of like-minded nations, clear-eyed about the threats we face, but also ready to embrace the technology that will help us overcome them.
I have seen the JEF Northern Navies take the initiative to strengthen our collective security.
And I hope I have shown you that the Royal Navy is rebuilding and getting ready for what could lie ahead.
That is how we protect our nations.
That is how we deter war.
And that is how we move, together, from vision to action.
Thank you.