UK SME coalition demonstrates sense-decide-effect chain to Royal Navy

A coalition of UK SMEs called ‘Spectre’ demonstrated a “fully integrated end-to-end sense–decide–effect chain” to the Royal Navy during exercise Trident Sprint in April, which tested how uncrewed technologies can counter various threats.  

According to technology company Hadean on 6 May, a single operational picture was created, drawn from live data feeds from across the consortium’s capabilities that enabled “courses of action within minutes”.  

Hadean specifically contributed to the ‘sense’ aspect of the demonstration, through its command and control platform, the company said.  

“We were there to demonstrate that, as a UK sovereign coalition, we could deliver the full end-to-end requirement for the Royal Navy,” Edward Nickell-Lean, Senior Defence Business Partner at Hadean, told DSEI Gateway. 

Kraken Technology Group – a member of the SME coalition – contributed its uncrewed surface vessels, which are already in service with the Royal Navy as part of Project Beehive.  

Other participating Sceptre members included uncrewed surface vessel manufacturer ACUA Ocean, AI analytics provider Vizgard, and digital verification company Labrys, which all provided “sense” technology. UAS platform supplier Evolve Dynamics contributed an “effector”.   

Sceptre members intend to build on Trident Sprint by pursuing a long-term relationship with the Royal Navy to support its shift towards a hybrid force. 

"We’ve seen significant interest because of what we’ve demonstrated," Nickell-Lean said.