Policy paper

Introduction to the Royal Navy’s Maritime Modularity Concept

Updated 2 February 2023

Rear Admiral James Parkin CBE

Rear Admiral James Parkin CBE

I am delighted to announce the formal release of the new Modularity Concept for the Royal Navy. It is the first supporting concept that sits under the Maritime Operating Concept (MarOpC) which was released in 2022.

The Maritime Modularity Concept emphasises the need for the continued development of an adaptable and flexible Royal Navy, and not being fixed to a platform-centric view of delivering naval power into the 2030s and beyond. As such, I believe exploiting the best technologies as they arise, and embedding the principle of spiral development by default (and ‘plug and play’ for their replacements) is at the heart of how we need to develop future capabilities. This Concept thus shows us how we can change the way we design and procure our equipment and how we train and use or people to remain relevant in an ever-changing world.

As with all concepts, this is not doctrine or policy, but instead is designed to be thought provoking in order to allow us to design the Royal Navy of the future as well as adapting the Royal Navy of today. I commend it to you.