With steady-state peacetime patrols officially over and the countdown to full warfighting readiness by 2029 underway, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins – First Sea Lord, Chief of the Naval Staff, and the first Royal Marine in history to lead the Royal Navy – sits down for an exclusive, wide-ranging deep dive on Defence Talks.
In conversation with Viktorija Starych-Samuolienė and Paul Mason, the head of the Royal Navy offers an unvarnished assessment of a volatile global landscape, exposing the escalating Russian subsurface threat actively targeting critical underwater data and energy infrastructure. Drawing direct lessons from asymmetric Ukrainian victories in the Black Sea, he details why maritime power is undergoing its biggest paradigm shift in a century and why the Royal Navy must adapt at pace.
The discussion unpacks deep interchangeability with Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies across the High North, alongside the blueprint for a lethal hybrid fleet pairing conventional crewed warships with autonomous escorts and deploying the cutting-edge Atlantic Net surveillance network. Crucially, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins also outlines an internal overhaul of the Royal Navy itself: transforming officer education, top-down leadership, and empowering frontline innovators to build a force equipped to win.
