“Atlantic Bastion Programme will create an advanced hybrid naval force to defend the UK and NATO allies against evolving threats. It will enable the UK to find, track and, if required, act against adversaries with unprecedented effectiveness across vast areas of ocean.”
With increased sea and undersea activity by Russian submarines, ships and thinly disguised spy ships such as the Yantar, the UK Government is stepping up to counter and monitor the potential threats. It is the inevitable response to Putin as the Russian leader has commissioned a modernisation of the their fleet with the express aim to target critical undersea cables and pipelines.
Defence Secretary, John Healey MP 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 as we deliver on the Strategic Defence Review.
Our pioneering Atlantic Bastion programme is a blueprint for the future of the Royal Navy. It combines the latest autonomous and AI technologies with world-class warships and aircraft to create a highly advanced hybrid fighting force to detect, deter and defeat those who threaten us.
Atlantic Bastion will see ships, submarines, aircraft and unmanned vessels connected through AI-powered acoustic detection technology and integrated into a digital targeting web – a pioneering network of weapons systems that allow battlefield decisions for targeting enemy threats to be made and executed faster.
There is a global transformation to hybrid navies, taking an integrated, multi-domain approach, combining naval and air assets and Strategic Command digital infrastructure to create a networked system spanning the air, ocean surface and underwater.
Benefits for UK industry
Commercial partners are central to this new frontier in the ‘grey zone’ – it is a sector estimated to be worth £350 billion globally – and has the potential to create thousands of skilled British jobs and stimulate economic growth for the UK economy in the process.
This joined up approach is proving a fertile ground for private sector businesses such as Anduril, whose Managing Director, Dr Rich Drake is quoted by the MOD as saying:
The government has called upon industry to create the modern warfighter. We have designed Seabed Sentry in the UK in partnership with other British companies to deliver for our Armed Forces and protect allied waters from increasingly hostile actors. We are investing in British talent, in British technology and in Britain’s tomorrow. Anduril UK stands ready to defend British interests.
BAE Systems and Helsing are also cited in the MOD release. The aim across the board is to develop and deploy “Reliable and flexible autonomous undersea systems, designed for littoral and deep-water survey, inspection, and delivery of effects – applicable to a wide range of defense and commercial mission sets.”
Main Image: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2024
