NATO Considers Aquatic Drones to Protect Undersea Internet Cables

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NATO is planning deploy unmanned boats in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas to patrol the oceans for threats that could target underwater internet cables, according to DefenseNews.

The alliance envisions sea-based drones operating as a surveillance camera network that could record activity on or below the water. "The technology is there to make this street-lighting with USVs ," Admiral Pierre Vandier told DefenseNews.

The fleet will be based on drone experiments from the US Navy’s Task Force 59, which has been working to bring aquatic drones to naval operations in the Middle East. This includes equipping the robot boats with weapons. Back in January, the task force said it had "tested, upgraded, evolved and operated with more than 23 different unmanned systems."

This comes weeks after two underwater fiber cables connecting Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, and Germany were cut in the Baltic Sea. Investigators originally suspected the Russian government may have been behind the disruption in an alleged act of sabotage. But since then, Europe has been scrutinizing a Chinese commercial vessel for deliberately damaging the underwater cables by hauling its anchor along the seafloor.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the vessel Yi Peng 3 departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga on Nov. 15, carrying Russian-made fertilizer. But for some reason, the vessel dragged its anchor more than 100 miles across Northern Europe's Baltic seabed.

The incident and ensuing investigation prompted European warships to surround the Yi Peng 3. The ship’s owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is reportedly cooperating with the investigation, but Western intelligence still suspect that Russian agents were behind the alleged sabotage, although the Kremlin has denied any involvement.