A seven-year £48 million (US$62 million) programme to deliver nearly three dozen crucial small boats to the UK Royal Navy's fleet and bases has completed with the final craft being recently handed over in Devonport. The Fleet Hydrographic and Meteorological Unit were recipients of the first boat in Project Vahana in the form of HMS Magpie. The unit is now also the last to receive a series of new craft to support survey operations.
Project Vahana – the name having been derived from the Sanskrit for "vehicle" (typically one ridden by Hindu deities) – has seen 35 new waterjet-driven boats delivered to both front-line units and training establishments since Magpie in 2018. The boats follow the same basic design and concept, but differ in size and roles – the latter assisted by interchangeable capability modules that can be fitted/removed so the Royal Navy can reconfigure the craft for different missions.
Collectively known as the SEA class, the boats range in size from 11 metres in length up to Magpie, the largest, at 18 metres long. The vessels perform numerous duties: dive support; officer and rating training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and HMS Raleigh; future mine warfare capabilities; and passenger duties moving personnel from ship to shore on carrier HMS Prince of Wales.
Atlas Elektronik UK won the contract placed by the UK Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Defence, Equipment and Support (DE&S) arm to provide the flotilla. As the boats belong to the same family of craft, training, spares and documentation for all systems has been significantly reduced. Also, some of the vessels can be fitted with the necessary systems to enable them to be operated remotely or autonomously.
