The UK government has announced enhanced protection for undersea cables using autonomous vessels alongside crewed warships and aircraft, responding to escalating Russian surveillance activities.

The Ministry of Defence’s Atlantic Bastion programme directly addresses increased activity by Russian submarines and surface vessels, including the spy ship Yantar, which Defence Secretary John Healey said had been mapping UK undersea infrastructure.

“Our pioneering Atlantic Bastion programme is a blueprint for the future of the Royal Navy,” Healey said in a published statement today. “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.”

In comments released in advance of a conference speech, First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said the UK’s recent strategic defense review highlighted the need for the country to address maritime vulnerabilities.

“This begins with Atlantic Bastion – our bold new approach to secure the underwater battlespace against a modernizing Russia,” he said. “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.”

The government said the initiative could create thousands of British jobs. US-based Anduril and Germany’s Helsing, both defense technology companies focused on autonomous systems, as well as UK defense giant BAE Systems are supporting it.

In May, the Ministry of Defence published a procurement notice for the £24 million Atlantic Net initiative, under which contractors will own and operate lightly crewed, remotely operated or autonomous systems providing Royal Navy personnel with acoustic data analyzed with artificial intelligence.

The UK is heavily dependent on undersea cables for internet connectivity. While the country has a total of 64 such cables, three-quarters of its transatlantic traffic runs through two cables that make landfall in Bude in Cornwall, according to a recent parliamentary report.

“While our national connectivity does not face immediate danger, we must prepare for the possibility that our cables can be threatened in the event of a security crisis,” the report from the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy said. ®