UK defense company Babcock has signed three agreements with Danish firms to explore autonomous technologies, system integration, and advanced equipment for naval platforms.
Announced during DALO Industry Days, the partnerships involve technology companies STORMBORN and CUBEDIN, along with maritime equipment supplier SH Group.
The agreements will examine how Danish technologies can support future fleets that combine crewed warships with uncrewed systems.
Babcock and STORMBORN will focus on integrating autonomous technologies into broader naval programs, with particular attention to interoperability and coordinated operations between crewed and uncrewed platforms.
Meanwhile, Babcock’s agreement with CUBEDIN will explore standardized physical and digital interfaces. These interfaces could enable navies to add or replace mission systems, sensors, and autonomous capabilities without making major modifications to existing vessels.
The partnership with SH Group will focus on ship and naval platform systems and could expand the involvement of Danish suppliers in vessels built for Denmark and international customers.
The collaborations support Babcock’s “Hybrid Navy” concept, in which crewed warships command and coordinate distributed autonomous and AI-enabled systems. The UK Royal Navy plans to incorporate this approach into its future fleet, while Babcock will explore similar capabilities with Danish industry and the Royal Danish Navy.
Babcock already has strong links with Denmark through the Arrowhead 140 frigate, which is based on the Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class design and serves as the foundation for the Royal Navy’s Type 31 program.
