Drug smugglers heading for British shores could be hunted down by remote-control Royal Navy drone boats.
The Navy and Marines are testing a Mad Fox autonomous vehicle with the Border Force to see how it could be best deployed.
Its most likely use is that on-board cameras will identify drug smugglers and then, on approaching the criminals, the drone will launch a net to clog the propellers of their boat.
The unmanned drone, measuring 41ft and with a maximum speed of 40-plus knots or about 45mph, will be operated from onshore or from a bigger inflatable vessel or ship.
Drug smugglers heading for British shores could be hunted down by remote-control Royal Navy drone boats