The so-called “Atlantic Net” could give the British military a major edge in heading off Russian hybrid warfare attacks on its underwater infrastructure.

The UK’s Royal Navy has long been at the forefront of new technology—from building the first ironclad warships in the 1850s to developing the groundbreaking Dreadnought battleship concept in the early 20th century to being a pioneer of naval aviation. This week, it has signaled a desire to pioneer in a new area: taking a lead on drones, sensors, and artificial intelligence (AI) to protect undersea cables and to hunt stealthy Russian submarines.

The British senior service is directing £90 million ($120 million) to the development of the emerging technologies as part of a framework deal with the UK-based Ocean Infinity Solutions, which serves to strengthen the Royal Navy’s efforts in protecting undersea infrastructure and critical shipping routes.

Introducing the UK’s “Atlantic Net”

The surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) initiative, which has been dubbed the “Atlantic Net,” calls for the creation of a dense web of autonomous uncrewed vessels, advanced sonar, and AI-powered sensors that will monitor the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) gap separating the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic, including the underwater communications cables and energy pipelines.

The net is the first core phase of the Royal Navy’s wider “Atlantic Bastion” hybrid naval program, which calls for autonomous drones to support the service’s surface ASW combatants and Astute-class nuclear-powered fast attack submarines. The hybrid naval force will work alongside NAO and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies and partners to strengthen the protection of the critical infrastructure from interference, sabotage and other hostile activity.

The initiative could hardly be better-timed. Russia has increasingly mapped, spied on, and even physically targeted vital Western undersea infrastructure, including fiber-optic communication cables, power lines, and gas pipelines—notably across the North Atlantic, the Arctic, and the Baltic Sea. The Kremlin’s Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research operates specialized submarines and intelligence-gathering ships that can deploy deep-sea submersibles.

Recent NATO intelligence has identified dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of instances where Russian civilian fishing trawlers, along with “shadow fleet” merchant or tanker vessels, loitered slowly above charted cable routes for days, suspected of using sonar to map exact seabed locations before potential acts of sabotage.

The Atlantic Net Will Follow the COCONO Model

Atlantic Net will operate under a “Contractor-Owned, Contractor-Operated, Naval Oversight” (COCONO) model, which enables the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) to access real-time data services from commercial tech innovators.

“The threats beneath the North Atlantic are changing, and we are changing with them. This investment gives the Royal Navy new technology to find threats earlier and protect our critical infrastructure, while also backing British business,” said Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard. “It shows that we’re getting on with the job of investing in our Armed Forces and strengthening our deterrence under the sea, to support our ultimate, nuclear deterrent.”

The framework with Ocean Infinity Solutions, which is based in Hampshire along the UK’s southern coast, will support nearly 200 new skilled jobs in the immediate supply chain, building on the 38,700 jobs in South East England that directly support the MoD. More importantly, the initiative will bring underwater sensing, communications, remote operations and data services into a single capability directed by the Royal Navy—while the mission will ensure the critical infrastructure under the waves remains guarded.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. He has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines, and websites over a 30-year career in journalism, including Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author at Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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