Predannack, Cornwall, UK – For the first time, Royal Navy helicopters have used live data from multiple drones to target a moving vehicle, demonstrating a major step forward in hybrid operations.

A Wildcat from 815 Naval Air Squadron received near-instantaneous information from two small surveillance drones—a Puma and a Providence—alongside data from ground-based sensors. This allowed the crew to track and target a moving vehicle via a multi-node mesh network, sometimes over the horizon and beyond line of sight.

The trials, conducted out of Predannack airfield on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula, lay the groundwork for more complex operations involving both crewed and uncrewed systems—a “hybrid air wing” that could integrate Royal Navy assets with drones from the UK Armed Forces and NATO allies.

Lieutenant Commander Rhydian Edwards, Officer in Command of the Wildcat Maritime Force Operational Advantage Group, said: “We turned a Wildcat helicopter into a flying command centre. For the first time, while flying a mission, a Royal Navy crew sent and received live data from multiple drones from within the aircraft across a node network.”

Edwards added: “Remote data nodes were used to send and receive information from any system on the MESH network, getting that into the aircraft instantly whilst also setting the foundations for taking control of those systems when tactically appropriate. The Puma, combined with the Providence, were just a means to an end to prove that the system will work and develop initial tactics.”

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