Royal Navy adopts ‘sovereign AI’ platform to boost operational decision-making

PEX Network’s key takeaways:

• The Royal Navy has adopted a sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) platform to enhance operational decision-making aboard HMS Prince of Wales.
• New capabilities enable onboard data processing, delivering faster, near-source insights.
• “Leveraging modern AI solutions across the entire operations of the Royal Navy is critical to the UK’s defensive capabilities,” said First Sea Lord, Sir Gwyn Jenkins.

The Royal Navy has adopted a ‘sovereign artificial intelligence (AI)’ platform to boost operational decision-making aboard HMS Prince of Wales.

The Royal Navy is using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Roving Edge Infrastructure to run Whitespace’s fully integrated sovereign AI capability to support the UK’s national security.

With new capabilities, HMS Prince of Wales, the Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy and one of the most powerful surface warships ever built in the UK, will be able to process data close to the source, enabling faster insights, according to a press release.

This enables the Royal Navy to run operational learning and decision support AI in challenging environments, turning complex mission data into actionable understanding without compromising the security of some of the world’s most sensitive information.

Last week, the Royal Navy made British aviation history with the UK’s first truly autonomous full-size helicopter completing its maiden flight, operating from Predannack airfield in Cornwall.

The helicopter has been designed and built to unlock the potential of uncrewed aerial systems, operating them side-by-side with crewed aircraft in a future ‘hybrid air wing’, and potentially at the heart of future anti-submarine operations as part of the Atlantic Bastion strategy.

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Royal Navy adopts ‘sovereign AI’ platform

“Leveraging modern AI solutions across the entire operations of the Royal Navy is critical to the UK’s defensive capabilities,” said First Sea Lord, Sir Gwyn Jenkins. “To ensure the HMS Prince of Wales can succeed in its mission, the Royal Navy has deployed a solution that leverages the benefits of sovereign AI securely, without compromising operational control or efficiencies, no matter where it is in the world.”

OCI Roving Edge Infrastructure delivers portable, compute- and storage-optimized cloud services at the network edge and in disconnected environments, housed in a rugged, military-grade enclosure with electromagnetic shielding for reliable operation in harsh conditions.

Whitespace, part of the Oracle Defense Ecosystem, is the UK’s sovereign AI company behind Collective, a modular AI operating system for high-risk environments. Within Collective, Saga offers Royal Navy personnel a secure, app-like interface to capture lessons, review mission data, and access tailored AI support.

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“The Royal Navy, and more widely the Ministry of Defence, needs to store and run their sovereign data in environments that are highly secure while maintaining operational control,” said Jason Rees, SVP, technology engineering EMEA at Oracle. “The mission is at the edge. By using OCI Roving Edge Infrastructure, the Royal Navy can seamlessly and securely develop, deploy, and maintain sovereign AI capabilities for the Fleet Flagship anytime, anywhere.”

Deploying Saga on OCI Roving Edge Infrastructure shows what is now possible when sovereign AI is paired with resilient cloud-at-the-edge technology, said Andrew Webber, chief partnerships officer at Whitespace.

“The Royal Navy needs capabilities that work anywhere, under any conditions, and this collaboration delivers exactly that. Together with Oracle, we are proving that the UK can field trusted, secure AI in live operational environments today.”

Image credit: HMS Prince of Wales. Copyright MOD. OGL.

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