UK-founded defence technology company Arondite today announced a strategic partnership with leading UK Defence Prime Babcock to co-develop maritime autonomy solutions for defence customers across the UK and allied nations.
Under the partnership, Arondite and Babcock are collaborating on the design, development and deployment of a range of AI-enabled, interoperable and autonomy-native maritime systems. The companies are working to develop capabilities specifically designed to enhance operational effectiveness across surface and subsurface domains through the fusion of modular crewed and uncrewed platforms.
The partnership was announced alongside ARMOR Force, a ‘Hybrid Navy’ concept unveiled by Babcock, Arondite and United States shipbuilder HII following the First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkin’s Speech at the International Seapower Conference. ARMOR Force (Autonomous and Remote, Maritime Operational Response – Force) is an architecture of disaggregated systems and platforms capable of independent operations, connected by Arondite’s Cobalt Operating System.
Cobalt will serve as the autonomy and mission orchestration layer across ARMOR Force, integrating crewed and uncrewed platforms into unified fleets that can be commanded from sea or shore. The platform is already deployed across a number of Royal Navy and British Army units, where it is enabling multi-domain mission planning and orchestration, AI-enabled sensor fusion and decision support, and hardware-agnostic human-machine teaming.
A key priority for the collaboration between Arondite and Babcock is rapid integration, testing and deployment across ARMOR Force and other capabilities. The two companies have been working together on initial concept designs since June 2025 and are currently conducting live sea trials with a global team of hardware partners as part of the Royal Navy’s Atlantic Bastion demonstrator.
Will Blyth, Co-founder and CEO, Arondite said: “The future of maritime power will be defined by an adaptable blend of crewed and uncrewed systems, leveraging disaggregated sensors and effectors. We have built Cobalt to tackle exactly this challenge. We are proud to combine our autonomy and mission orchestration capabilities with the world-leading integration, design and build expertise of Babcock, to rapidly deliver the Royal Navy’s vision of a Hybrid Navy”.
Sir Nick Hine, Chief Executive of Babcock Marine CEO, said: “The First Sea Lord and his leadership team are driving forward the Hybrid Navy, which is world-leading in terms of how it will harness autonomous and crewed systems to fundamentally change how we fight. The partnership we are creating with Arondite represents a bold step forward. We are combining advanced autonomy, modular systems, and digital innovation to create a fleet that is more agile, resilient, and ready for tomorrow’s challenges. What we are proposing will keep the Royal Navy at the forefront of global maritime security for decades to come.”