The UK has unveiled work on its groundbreaking Atlantic Bastion programme, which will make Britain more secure from Russian undersea threats in the North Atlantic through a transformation of the Royal Navy and its submarine-hunting capabilities.
The world-leading programme is in direct response to a resurgence in Russian submarine and underwater activity, including the activities of Russian spy ship Yantar around UK waters, recently exposed by the Defence Secretary. UK Defence Intelligence has identified that Putin is currently modernising his fleet to target critical undersea cables and pipelines.
Atlantic Bastion 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.
There has been huge appetite from industry, with combined MOD/industry seedcorn investment of £14 million already committed this year to testing and development. 26 firms from the UK and Europe have submitted proposals to develop anti-submarine sensor technology, and 20 companies from big primes to tech SMEs are already showcasing technology demonstrators, with public investment matched by private investment so far at a 4:1 ratio.
The next phase of the development and testing over the coming weeks will see successful companies take forward development work from concept to frontline – with capabilities due to be deployed in the water next year, and further investment to accelerate and expand the programme to follow next year.
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.
“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,” said Defence Secretary John Healey.
“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.”
Leave a Reply