In response to recent sabotage of undersea cables in Europe, NATO is exploring solutions to safeguard communications against threats from Russia, North Korea, and potential terrorist attacks. The proposed solution involves the use of autonomous underwater drones.
Undersea cables are critical infrastructure in any conflict scenario, as severing just one or two can disrupt internet access for entire nations. Given the vastness of the oceans, it's impractical to maintain a naval presence to protect these cables. Therefore, NATO's strategy focuses on deploying unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) to monitor areas where these cables are located.
In early November, two undersea cables were intentionally damaged in the Baltic Sea, cutting internet connections between Sweden and Lithuania, and Finland and Germany. Spy satellites indicated that a Chinese cargo ship, Yi Peng 3, passed over the cables at the time of their breakage, potentially dragging them with its anchor.
The cargo ship had recently been in Russia, raising suspicions about the involvement of Russian entities. NATO is already planning to reroute internet traffic to satellite systems like Elon Musk's Starlink in case of future disruptions, although satellite networks cannot handle the immense traffic that undersea cables support.
French Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, confirmed plans to deploy autonomous vessels to monitor undersea cables in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. These USVs, which have been operational since 2021 under NATO's Task Force 59, can patrol routes autonomously for months, powered by solar panels and equipped with cameras to record their surroundings.
NATO aims to deploy this fleet of autonomous drones by June next year, hoping to prevent further sabotage incidents in the meantime.