NATO to create fleet of maritime drones

NATO has initiated plans to develop its own fleet of unmanned boats designed to safeguard vital undersea infrastructure throughout the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas.

In response to a series of undersea cable damages reported across European waters over the past year—most recently, just weeks ago—senior NATO officials are considering a capability that would enable the alliance to maintain constant surveillance both above and below the water’s surface, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

In an interview with Defense News, Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO's commander for concepts and transformation based in Norfolk, Virginia, compared the concept to the installation of police CCTV cameras on streetlights in high-crime urban areas to capture evidence of criminal activity.

"The technology is there to create this 'street-lighting' with USVs," he said, referring to unmanned surface vessels. Vandier explained that his team is in the initial phases of developing a USV fleet, with the goal of allowing NATO to "constantly observe and monitor its environment on a daily basis."

The initial phase of the project would focus on achieving this capability at the surface level, followed by expanding it to underwater operations. Vandier noted that the initiative has already garnered "great support" from MARCOM, NATO's central maritime command, as well as from the alliance’s operational headquarters, SACEUR. While many specifics are still being worked out, officials are confident that they can outfit the drone fleet with proven platforms, building on successful experiments conducted by the US Navy’s Task Force 59. 

“There is no name yet, just USV Fleet,” Vandier told Defense News. “In fact, it already exists, so it's not very risky. The US has had Task Force 59 operating in the Gulf for years, so everything is well-established and available. It's more about adoption than about new technology.” 

Launched in 2021, Task Force 59 is a unit focused on integrating unmanned systems and artificial intelligence within the US Navy’s 5th Fleet operations. Based in Bahrain, it includes drones and other uncrewed vehicles that work alongside manned ships. In January, a new sub-unit, Task Group 59.1, was created to test and improve industry systems aimed at enhancing maritime security throughout the Middle East. As of last month, the unit has trialed, upgraded, and experimented with more than 23 different unmanned systems. 

The task group participated in the Digital Talon exercise in early November, where it successfully launched a loitering munition remotely at sea and tested vertical takeoff and landing of drones from a USV. Vandier stated that the aim is to deploy the drone surveillance fleet before the upcoming NATO Summit, scheduled for June in the Netherlands. 

By Naila Huseynova