Britain's Armed Forces will undergo a high-tech revolution of drones and unmanned warplanes to prepare for the warfare of the 21st century, defence sources said last night.
The Government's strategic defence review, to be published shortly, will learn the lessons of the war in Ukraine to herald a major change of direction.
Drones are already increasingly used in the Armed Forces mainly for close surveillance.
But the expected radical changes would dramatically expand their use and potentially involve equipping the Royal Navy with a squadron of unmanned planes operating from one of its carriers.
The RAF would get the ability to deploy laser-armed swarming drones deployed from the new Tempest fighter jet.
