A SHIP is to be sunk off the northwest coast of Scotland in a major US–UK live-fire exercise.
The exercise, titled Atlantic Thunder 26, will take place in the QinetiQ Hebrides range, which is located at various sites around the islands of South Uist, Benbecula and St Kilda.
The sinking exercise, or a SINKEX, will involve British and American naval and air forces striking the target ship off the Hebrides in May 2026.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) describes it as a joint US-UK exercise “designed to validate SUW kill chains, build resilient kill webs and deliver strategic messaging through kinetic demonstration”.
The ship is expected to settle at a depth of around 6000 feet, where, the UK Defence Journal has reported, uncrewed underwater vehicles will be used to scan the damage and undertake seabed surveys.
In 2022, a similar exercise was undertaken, titled Atlantic Thunder 22. The training saw the sinking of the decommissioned frigate USS Boone, with multiple weapons tested and used against the target.
It was described at the time as the most complex multinational SINKEX ever staged in UK waters.
According to a MoD Request for Information (RFI): “AT26 is a US–UK multi-domain exercise designed to validate SUW kill chains, build resilient kill webs and deliver strategic messaging through kinetic demonstration that will take place off the coast of the Hebrides in Scotland from 11th–22nd May 2026.”
“Whilst AT26 presents opportunities to showcase technology, and for industry contributions to be highlighted during the exercise to an appropriate audience, it must be understood that this is a development exercise. The focus will be on accelerating capability delivery by addressing the capability blockers listed,” the document adds.
The Royal Navy hopes to outline proposals by September 12 2025.
