Drone a wake-up call for the Navy

IF AN amateur can fly a £300 drone to the deck of a £3billion supercarrier then Britain’s 21st century naval strategy needs to be urgently re-examined.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth is the pride of the fleet, meant to project hi-tech British naval power across the oceans. But it seems to have been defeated by equipment you could order from an Argos catalogue.

There will be excuses for allowing the incursion on to the virgin flight deck to happen. The supercarrier is still involved in sea trials, is not fully commissioned and does not yet have a full compliment of crew.

That won’t prevent it happening again or stop a terrorist or rogue state from loading an explosive on to a drone to have more impact than the Navy being left with red faces.

Like the dangers of laser pens the Government are set to consult on, action has to be taken to make sure drone flights are regulated and kept away from military targets as well as commercial aircraft, where they are as dangerous as lasers shone at pilots’ eyes.

Asymmetrical warfare – overcoming hi-tech defences with low-cost weaponry – is not new, but had the Royal Navy thought of this one? In this instance, the drone operator had the good sense to approach the authorities and explain what happened.

Perhaps they should be thanking him for saving them from a potential disaster.