UK Special Forces Sea Drone Transmitted Data to China: Report
The Kraken K3 drone is part of a planned deployment to safeguard commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
A new report has revealed that surveillance drones operated by the United Kingdom's Special Forces transmitted data to China, reigniting security concerns amid efforts to mend relations between London and Beijing. The Ministry of Defence discovered that Kraken K3 Scout drones, supplied by British defense contractor Kraken Technology Group, were sending heartbeat communications to an IP address in China.
These drones, part of a planned British naval deployment to safeguard commercial passage in the Strait of Hormuz, are capable of operating for up to 30 days and can carry various surveillance and electronic warfare equipment. The Royal Navy received 20 of these drones in March as part of Project Beehive, a defense initiative to create a mixed fleet of crewed warships and unmanned vessels.
Despite the discovery, the Ministry of Defence stated that no evidence suggested MOD data or systems were accessed, compromised, or transmitted externally. China's military affairs expert, Zhang Junshe, dismissed the report as having Cold War overtones, arguing that Western governments and media are presenting a fabricated "China threat" narrative.
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