British Navy to Equip Kraken Unmanned Boats with Sea Giraffe 1X Radar for Drone Early Warning.

The British Royal Navy will equip Kraken K3 Scout boats with Sea Giraffe 1X radar for drone early warning under a £15 million Saab contract. The capability is designed to provide persistent maritime surveillance, extending aerial threat detection beyond conventional warships to help protect naval assets, shipping, and critical infrastructure.

A Kraken uncrewed surface vessel on display during the British Royal Navy’s 1st Autonomous Squadron commissioning ceremony on November 5, 2026. The event, attended by Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Steve Moorhouse, marked the unit’s formal entry into the fleet. (Picture source: Royal Navy)

Key Tactical Insights:

• Forward surveillance: Radar-equipped K3 Scout boats could extend aerial threat detection beyond conventional warships, providing warning from sensors positioned closer to a potential threat’s approach.

• Flexible payload: K3 Scout’s modular design allows the boat to carry mission-specific equipment. The radar adds an air surveillance role, although published vessel performance figures do not establish endurance with this payload.

• British Navy fleet integration: The contract coincides with the establishment of the British Royal Navy’s 1st Autonomous Squadron. The unit provides an organizational basis for uncrewed operations, while the radar combination still requires further maturation and integration.

Saab announced the award on November 10, 2026, confirming the purchase of several Sea Giraffe 1X systems for integration with Kraken’s autonomous boats. It advances the experimental combination covered by Army Recognition on October 5 from prototype development to a Royal Navy procurement commitment.

According to Saab, shore and sea trials demonstrated autonomous detection, tracking and classification of airborne targets in challenging maritime conditions. Captain Adam Ballard, the British Royal Navy’s deputy commander of the Surface Flotilla, described the intended role as generating an air surveillance picture toward the threat, enabling earlier detection for subsequent engagement. The announced configuration provides sensing and warning; no onboard interception weapon is identified.

Sea Giraffe 1X adds air surveillance to a modular boat

Sea Giraffe 1X is a compact, three-dimensional active electronically scanned array radar operating in the X band. Saab states that it supports simultaneous air and surface surveillance and refreshes its entire search volume every second. These functions allow an equipped vessel to monitor both domains while frequently updating target positions.

The experimental installation placed Giraffe 1X in K3 Scout’s modular payload bay. Saab UK and Kraken developed the working prototype in less than seven months, including sea trials to assess performance in maritime conditions. Their October announcement envisaged independent operations or employment alongside conventional vessels to support protection of shipping and infrastructure.

Kraken K3 Scout unmanned surface vessel: speed, payload and mission flexibility

Kraken describes K3 Scout as an 8.4-meter autonomous uncrewed surface vessel with a composite structure, an inboard diesel engine and stern drive. Published specifications list a maximum speed of 55 knots, a payload capacity of 600 kilograms and a range of 650 nautical miles at 25 knots. These are manufacturer figures for the boat, rather than verified performance for the Royal Navy’s radar-equipped configuration.

The manufacturer also lists endurance of up to 30 days, explicitly dependent on the mission. That figure should therefore be distinguished from continuous high-speed operation or persistent radar surveillance: the published specifications do not establish how long the contracted sensor configuration can remain on station.

The boat’s modular arrangement supports different payloads for maritime awareness, force protection, logistics and precision strike. For the radar mission, its significance is the ability to use an existing uncrewed hull as a mobile surveillance node. Positioning that sensor away from a protected asset could extend the warning perimeter without requiring another crewed warship at the same location. This remains an intended employment benefit rather than a quantified operational result.

British Royal Navy builds an organization for uncrewed surface operations

The radar purchase follows the formal commissioning of the 1st Autonomous Squadron at Portsmouth Naval Base on November 5, announced by the Royal Navy on November 9. During the ceremony, Kraken and Rattler uncrewed boats maneuvered around Portsmouth Harbour under control from a shore hub.

The Portsmouth-based squadron comprises approximately 180 personnel divided into two watches to sustain operations around the clock. It replaces Project Beehive, the initial procurement and experimentation program that developed the service’s uncrewed surface vessel capability. Its responsibilities include operating individual boats and vessels within task groups, as well as introducing additional uncrewed systems into the fleet.

This development gives the British Royal Navy a dedicated organization to build operator skills, tactics and experience for uncrewed surface missions. The service places the squadron within its wider hybrid navy approach, combining conventional warships with autonomous and uncrewed equipment, backed by a stated £1.5 billion investment over four years. The squadron will work with Navy Develop, the Disruptive Capabilities and Technologies Office and the Capability Accelerator to develop and introduce capabilities.

The British Navy squadron’s commissioning and the radar contract represent different milestones: one establishes an operating organization, while the other funds a specific sensor capability. Saab has not disclosed an exact radar quantity, delivery timetable or measured detection ranges for the contracted configuration. Further maturation and integration into Royal Navy operations remain the stated work ahead.

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Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group

Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.