Chinese-made component found in Royal Navy sea drones

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there is no evidence to suggest a systems or data breach after the Royal Navy's new sea drones were found to include a Chinese-made component.

During what the MoD called a "routine cyber vulnerability assessment" of the drones, the cameras were found to have sent a squark – also known as a heartbeat communication – to a Chinese IP address.

A squark can signal when the system is switched on, is functioning properly, but it can also carry location information.

"A thorough investigation found no evidence of MoD data or systems being accessed, compromised or transmitted externally," an MoD spokesperson said.

"Our assurance and testing processes are designed to identify and address potential vulnerabilities early, and we continue to undertake routine security activity across our systems and equipment," the MoD added.

This is embarrassing for the MoD which, like most Nato countries, has banned Chinese components from military equipment - not least over fears of spying.

The K3 Scout sea drones can remotely carry out surveillance, and according to their supplier, "support a wide range of mission profiles including maritime awareness, force protection, logistics and precision strike".

The supplier of the Royal Navy's 20 new K3 sea drones, Kraken, said it was given assurances about security. But a third party supplier of the drone camera still had Chinese-made components.

Kraken has said it is confident no sensitive information has been shared.

The security lapse has been addressed, but it is a reminder of the heavy dominance on Chinese supply chains.

Even the defence sector – which has taken measures to prevent espionage – still struggles to source materials, and technologies that are China free, or as cheap.