Unmanned Warrior 'robot wars' exercise to be staged off Scotland Published duration 15 March 2016

image copyright AFP image caption Unmanned aerial vehicles will be tested in training scenarios during October's Unmanned Warrior 2016

What the Royal Navy describes as its first "robot wars" exercise will be held off Scotland's coast later this year.

Unmanned Warrior 2016 will involve drones, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and machines that can operate underwater.

Companies that manufacture the weapons and Nato member countries have been invited by the Royal Navy to take part.

It will be held during the UK-led Exercise Joint Warrior in October.

Joint Warrior is one of Nato's largest training events and is held twice a year for thousands of army, navy and air force personnel.

Since 2014, the Royal Navy has been promoting Unmanned Warrior 2016 to drone technology businesses.

Various scenarios will be run to test the capability of the machines, including anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance.

image copyright Thinkstock image caption Exercise Joint Warrior is one of Nato's largest training events

The first of this year's Joint Warrior exercises will be held from 11-23 April.

Most of the training takes place in and around Scotland with warships operating out of Faslane on the Clyde and aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.