NATO to create drone fleet to protect cables in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas

NATO has begun planning to create its own fleet of unmanned boats to help protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas.

This was stated by NATO Commander for Concepts and Transformation Pierre Vandie, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing his interview with Defense News.

After a series of submarine cable failures in European waters over the past year, the latest just a few weeks ago, senior NATO officials have begun developing a concept that would allow the alliance to maintain constant surveillance above and below the water.

Admiral Vandie compared the idea to police CCTV cameras mounted on streetlights in urban hotspots to capture evidence of crimes.

“There is technology that allows street lighting to be provided by unmanned surface vessels,” – he said.

Vandier said his team is in the early stages of developing a fleet of drones so that “NATO can see and monitor the environment every day.”

The first step will be to achieve this goal on the surface, and then underwater.

Vandie added that the new project has already received “strong support” from NATO’s central command of all naval forces, known as MARCOM, and the alliance’s operational headquarters, SACEUR.

Drones with combat platforms
While many details still need to be worked out, officials believe they can equip the drone formation with combat platforms that have been proven effective, drawing on experiments conducted by the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 59.

“[There is] no name yet, just USV Fleet,” Vandie said. “Actually, it already exists, so it’s not too risky. The U.S. has had a presence in the Gulf for many years, so it’s all familiar and it’s more a matter of adaptation than anything else. technology”.

Launched in 2021, TF 59 is a unit that integrates unmanned systems and artificial intelligence in the US Navy's 5th Fleet area of ​​operations. It operates from Bahrain and includes drones, as well as other unmanned vehicles operating alongside manned ships.

A new unit called Task Force 59.1 was created in January to focus on testing and upgrading industry systems to enhance maritime security in the Middle East region.

As of last month, the unit had tested, upgraded, and conducted experiments with more than 23 different unmanned systems.

In early November, the task force participated in the Digital Talon exercise, during which it successfully remotely launched a loitering drone at sea and tested vertical takeoff and landing of drones from an unmanned aerial vehicle. apparatus.

According to Vandiet, the goal is to launch a fleet of unmanned reconnaissance vehicles by the next NATO summit, which will be held in the Netherlands in June next year.

“We need to experiment with the first negotiations on this issue and then work with allies to find the right way to do it,” he added.

The latest incidents involving submarine cable breaks occurred on November 17 and 18, when a telecommunications company cable between Lithuania and Sweden was cut, and a cable connecting Finland and Germany was damaged. Investigations into the incidents are ongoing.