Britain has unveiled its plans for a new undersea warfare technology to counter threat from Russia.
Military chiefs have set out the multimillion-pound plan for technology needed to defend the UK’s undersea cables and pipelines.
Announced as part of the Strategic Defence Review, the Atlantic Bastion programme, will combine autonomous vehicles and AI with warships and aircraft to identify threats to underwater structure and to defend them.
Sky News reports: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was “in direct response to a resurgence in Russian submarine and underwater activity”, including the spy ship Yantar, which was tracked around UK waters last month.
The project has attracted a combined investment of £14m from the MoD and industry this year, with hopes the technology can be deployed next year.
A total of 26 firms from the UK and Europe have submitted proposals for the project.
Last week Defence Secretary John Healey visited Portsmouth Naval Base to examine some of the early technology which could be used as part of Atlantic Bastion.
It included the SG-1 Fathom, an underwater glider; Rattler, an unmanned remote-controlled boat; a model of an autonomous anti-submarine helicopter called Proteus; and an uncrewed experimental submarine called Excalibur.
“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,” Mr Healey said.
“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.”