РУССКИЙ
10:50 11.08.2026 •
Royal Navy spy drones used by Britain’s elite special forces secretly sent data to China, The Telegraph can reveal.
The cameras on the K3 Scout surveillance drones had components made in China which were secretly transmitting information to a device in the country.
The Royal Marines have been using the £12m fleet since March and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was forced to remove all internet connectivity from the cameras after discovering the breach.
The revelation raises fears that Beijing has been attempting to spy on Britain’s military after years of security warnings about the threat from the country.
The drones were supplied by a major British defence contractor, Kraken Technology Group, which sourced the cameras from a third party who had given assurances about their security.
An investigation into the drones revealed that the cameras were transmitting “heartbeat communications” – data to confirm they were online and functioning normally – to an IP address in China.
A defence source familiar with the matter told The Telegraph that the K3 drones made up part of a future defence package offered by the UK to secure the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The source said that preparations for Britain’s plans in the Gulf had been conducted on the drones, adding: “This is major failure to check origins of components and we have lost confidence in the platform.”
There are also concerns that the surveillance drones have been near highly sensitive meetings between senior special forces staff, and that cameras remained active even when the drones were switched off.
Alicia Kearns, the shadow security minister, said: “If we cannot say with confidence what is inside our own military equipment, we cannot say it is ours, or that we are sovereign.
“When cameras built on Chinese parts are found recording our special forces – their faces, training and operations – we should not be surprised, we should be furious that we still haven’t woken up to the realities of the threat we face.”
The breach is a major dent to the Navy’s Project Beehive, a programme to develop a combined fleet of uncrewed vessels and traditional warships.
Backed by a £5bn investment in drone technology, the Government has pledged to accelerate military innovation and make procurement “unashamedly pro-Britain”. But The Telegraph’s findings highlight China’s dominance in the supply chain, even when equipment is marketed as British-made.
read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs
