NATO faces an evolving maritime security environment characterized by increased Russian aggression, including threats to critical undersea infrastructure. The threat has been underscored by the recent damage to undersea cables in the Baltic connecting NATO Allies. To counter these threats and deter any future attempts by state or non-state actors, Allied Command Transformation has worked with Allied Command Operations and NATO Headquarters to establish TASK FORCE X, a specialized initiative focused on delivering capabilities that exploit emerging and disruptive technologies, including autonomous systems and artificial intelligence into maritime operations in order to enhance the Alliance’s situational awareness of sea lines of communication and safeguard critical undersea infrastructure. The system will be tested in mid-February, 2025, as part of Baltic Sentry which aims to improve Allies’ ability to respond to destabilizing acts.

NATO is enhancing its military presence in the Baltic Sea with an emphasis on monitoring Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI). Baltic Sentry is a multi-domain vigilance activity aimed at increasing maritime situational awareness in the Baltic Sea to deter and defend against attacks on CUI. Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), under the direction of Joint Forces Command Brunssum (JFCBS), will play a central role in coordinating enduring presence operations throughout the region.

HonuWorx’s innovative subsea robotics technology has been chosen for NATO’s 2025 Defence Innovation Accelerator (DIANA) program. HonuWorx is one of only 71 companies to be selected for the 2025 DIANA program following 2600 submissions from across NATO’s 32 member nations.

JFD, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, participates in Dynamic Monarch 24 mobilising the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) as part of a multi-nation exercise to test and refine submarine intervention and rescue capabilities in some of the most challenging environments.

Exail Robotics Belgium is pleased to announce the order worth of nearly 60 million Euros for K-Ster C underwater mine disposal vehicles, K-Ster CT training vehicles and associated equipment to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). These advanced systems are primarily intended for the Belgian and Royal Netherlands navies.

A new NATO-funded initiative aims to make the internet less vulnerable to disruption by rerouting the flow of information into space in the event that undersea cables are attacked or accidentally severed. The $2.5 million project, launched on 31 July 2024, was partially funded by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security programme (SPS).

SeeByte, the global leader in smart software solutions for robotic and autonomous systems, are pleased to announce the Belgian Navy have renewed their contract for SeeTrack v4 and Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) System licenses for their fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles.

NATO has established a new centre dedicated to the security of thousands of miles of undersea energy pipelines and cables, which are vulnerable to attacks aimed at disrupting energy supply, global communications and economic activity.

The Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia, Poland will host the 2024 Littoral OpTech workshop to explore the current trends regarding the operational, economic and geo-political environment in and around the Baltic Sea. The Polish Naval Academy was established in 1922, and has been in continuous operation since then, although it has had several different names over the years.

JFD Limited, part of James Fisher & Sons PLC, has once again showcased its leadership in submarine rescue by successfully completing the mobilisation of critical components of the NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) during the Rescuex West 24 exercise.

Kraken Robotics is pleased to announce that it has received an order from NATO Science and Technology Organisation (STO) Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) for a Miniature Synthetic Aperture Sonar (MINSAS) System from Kraken. The order followed an openly competed tender process and was delivered in Q4. Kraken’s MINSAS was selected having met CMRE’s rigorous requirements for a robust, broadband Synthetic Aperture Sonar. Kraken’s MINSAS will be integrated onto a NATO CMRE’s Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV), where it will also support advanced Artificial Intelligence capabilities such as Automated Target Recognition (ATR).

L3Harris, Voyis and Wavefront collaborate to deliver advanced technology to enhance NATO Navy’s autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) capabilities. L3Harris’ area of expertise is the development of AUVs for a variety of maritime applications. AUVs are designed to operate in harsh environments, including deep water and can be used for a range of missions, including search and rescue, surveillance, mine countermeasures and oceanography. L3Harris is at the forefront of AUV development and continuously advances its technology to meet critical evolving defence mission needs. To further improve L3Harris’ Iver4 900 AUV capabilities, the global defence company integrated a Voyis Recon LS and the Wavefront Solstice 3000 multiple-aperture sonar (MAS) Combined AUV payload onto the Iver4 900 platform to support defence missions.

In September, Teledyne Marine deployed multiple Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) during REPMUS 23 experimentation and DYNAMIC MESSENGER 23 exercise which took place in Troia and Sesimbra, Portugal. REPMUS (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned System) REPMUS is the largest unmanned system experimentation exercise, with participation broadly across NATO nations. REPMUS is a great opportunity to experiment with new capabilities and test the interoperability between unmanned systems.

On 12 October 2023 NATO Defence Ministers and the Swedish Defence Minister endorsed the Digital Ocean Vision, a pioneering initiative to enhance NATO’s maritime situational awareness from seabed to space. The Digital Ocean initiative will transform Allied maritime domain awareness by enhancing coordination between national and Allied capabilities employed for maritime surveillance. This includes a broad range of assets from satellites to autonomous systems below, on, and above the sea.

Kraken Robotics is pleased to announce its recent participation at Exercise REPMUS 23 in Portugal. The Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned System (REPMUS) is focused on capability development and interoperability, and the 2023 Exercise involved 15 NATO partners, as well as Sweden and Ireland. Kraken’s field support team was onsite throughout the exercise, working closely with three NATO navy teams (the US, UK, and Netherlands) utilizing three generations of HII’s REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), all of which were retrofitted with Kraken’s Man-Portable Synthetic Aperture Sonar (MP-SAS). The UUVs included MK18 Mod 1, REMUS 100 NGR, and REMUS 300 underwater vehicles, showing the versatility of MP-SAS and its capability to be used across multiple platforms.

JFD supported a very successful Flying Fish exercise, a NATO Submarine Rescue System (NSRS) aircraft loading evolution, with the US Air Force last September.

On Thursday (30 June 2022), at a signing ceremony hosted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Leaders and Ministers from 22 Allied countries* launched NATO’s Innovation Fund, the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund.

Proposed project in Teesside would be the largest in the UK, producing up to 1GW of ‘blue’ hydrogen – 20% of the UK’s hydrogen target – by 2030 and supporting development of region as UK’s first hydrogen transport hub