Britain unveils 10-country maritime defence initiative — Al Jazeera
Great Britain has unveiled the Northern Navies Initiative, a defence framework intended to combine the maritime capabilities of 10 Northern European countries, including uncrewed systems and warships. The initiative provides for the creation of a joint surveillance system to respond to maritime threats that European states associate with the Russian Federation, an aggressor state.
The initiative includes the Royal Navy of Great Britain and nine countries of the Joint Expeditionary Force: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. As Al Jazeera reports, the agreement was signed on Tuesday.
System interoperability
The new mechanism provides for a network of autonomous systems with advanced sensors to improve the detection and tracking of underwater activity. The Royal Navy of Great Britain said that system interoperability would allow the ships of participating countries to hand over operational responsibility to one another without losing the tempo of the operation.
In addition, one ship group will be able to control allied sensors and uncrewed vessels, while warships will be able to undergo repairs, refuel and replenish supplies at the ports of partner states. Future autonomous platforms are to connect to the command-and-control systems of other participants, forming a single maritime force rather than 10 separate ones.
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Drones and infrastructure protection
London plans to spend £90 million, or $121 million, on drones, sensors and artificial intelligence systems. According to the British side's plan, these assets are intended to help the Royal Navy counter underwater threats in the North Atlantic and protect critical infrastructure.
According to Al Jazeera, citing The Guardian, UK Minister for Defence Readiness Luke Pollard said that Russian fleet activity near the country increased by 41% during the first nine months of the year. At the International Sea Power conference aboard the aircraft carrier Prince of Wales in Oslo, he said British drones should interact with British, Danish and Norwegian ships.
A statement by the British Navy said that the initiative is intended to respond to hostile activity below the threshold of armed conflict, including risks to critical underwater infrastructure, harmful activity on the seabed and other forms of hybrid aggression. Russia has previously denied accusations of creating maritime threats to European countries and targeting underwater cables.
