The groundbreaking Atlantic Bastion programme will combine autonomous vessels and artificial intelligence (AI) with warships and aircraft to create a highly advanced hybrid force
Britain is ready to hunt Russian submarines across vast areas of oceans through a new hi-tech force to protect undersea cables and pipelines.
The groundbreaking Atlantic Bastion programme will combine autonomous vessels and artificial intelligence (AI) with warships and aircraft to create a highly advanced hybrid force.
Ships, submarines, aircraft and unmanned vessels will be connected through AI-powered acoustic detection technology and integrated into a digital targeting web to target enemy threats.
Ministers said the multi-million pound programme will place the UK at the forefront of a technological revolution in naval warfare. Such capabilities are due to be deployed in the water next year.
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The project has been launched with £14million of combined Ministry of Defence funding and industry early investment for testing and development this year.
It comes after a new pact was unveiled last week for British and Norwegian warships to hunt Russian submarines in the North Atlantic to counter the rising threat from Moscow.
Infrastructure under the sea carries 99% of international telecommunications data and vital energy supplies such as electricity, oil and gas in the UK.
UK defence intelligence has identified that Russia is modernising its fleet to target undersea cables and pipelines.
There has been a 30% surge in Russian ships spotted entering UK waters over the past two years. A Russian spy ship, the Yantar, recently shone lasers at RAF pilots when it was spotted north of Scotland.
Tensions have escalated after Kremlin tyrant Vladimir Putin last week warned that Russia was ready to go to war with Europe – and accused leaders of trying to sabotage peace talks.
Defence Secretary John Healey today said: “People should be in no doubt of the new threats facing the UK and our allies under the sea, where adversaries are targeting infrastructure that is so critical to our way of life.
“This new era of threat demands a new era for defence, and we must rapidly innovate at a wartime pace to maintain the battlefield edge.”
He said the Atlantic Bastion programme “is a blueprint for the future of the Royal Navy”, combining the latest technologies with world-class warships and aircraft to “detect, deter and defeat those who threaten us”.
General Sir Gwyn will welcome the launch of Atlantic Bastion at the International Sea Power Conference today. He is expected to say: “A revolutionary underwater network is taking shape – from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Norwegian Sea. More autonomous, more resilient, more lethal – and British built.”