UK starts industry engagement for future Carrier Strike Airborne Early Warning capability

The current Crowsnest ASaC role fit – hosted on the Merlin HM2 helicopter – is due to retire at the end of 2029. (UK Royal Navy/Crown Copyright)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has kicked off a market engagement activity intended as the precursor for the procurement of a new persistent Carrier Strike Airborne Early Warning capability to succeed the Royal Navy's (RN's) current Crowsnest airborne surveillance and control (ASaC) system in the early 2030s.

In a solicitation published on 9 April, the MoD promulgated a request for information (RFI) intended to survey the market with respect to relevant skills, technologies, and potential products. While the RFI does not prescribe implementation options, the RN aviation community has previously indicated its preference for an uncrewed carrier-based airborne early warning (AEW) solution coherent with its broader Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATx) vision.

The RN's Crowsnest ASaC system is a role fit hosted by a number of 820 Naval Air Squadron Merlin HM2 helicopters routinely embarked on the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. An evolved and upgraded version of the mission suite previously used in the Sea King ASaC7, Crowsnest currently has an out-of-service date of December 2029.

To sustain the capability going forward, the MoD said it is now exploring potential future solutions for “the provision and support of an airborne surveillance system that operates from the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and provides persistent 24 hours surveillance”. It added, “The primary purpose of the system will be to provide the carrier strike group, which would comprise the aircraft carrier, support vessels, escort frigates, and escort destroyers, with sufficient warning of difficult air and surface threats inclusive of modern anti-ship guided weapons and strike aircraft to allow for effective counter-threat action.”