Military and civilian experts from across NATO met at NATO Headquarters on Tuesday (10 December 2024) to ramp up further cooperation to counter threats to critical undersea infrastructure.
© MARCOM / NATO
They were joined by industry representatives, including telecommunications operators. Participants at the meeting reviewed mechanisms to boost situational awareness, to enhance information sharing and preparedness, and to deter and defend against attacks to undersea infrastructure.
"Leveraging innovation and technology, including through increased sensing and monitoring to detect suspicious activity near critical undersea infrastructure, is a key focus," said Ambassador Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber. "This is not a new problem set for NATO, but it is one that requires even closer cooperation between civilian and military actors in the face of intensifying hostile campaigns, including by Russia."
In May, NATO launched a new Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure within the Alliance's Maritime Command in the United Kingdom. With growing threats to subsea infrastructure, NATO created earlier this year a Critical Undersea Network to improve information sharing and coordination for the security of undersea cables and pipelines. The Network brings together stakeholders from Allies' governments, industries, NATO's civilian and military headquarters as well as other relevant actors.
