News NATO deploys 'sea drones' to safeguard undersea cable infrastructure

[Admin]

NATO will use uncrewed surface vessels or sea drones to monitor shipping in the Baltic Sea and protect undersea cable infrastructure.

NATO deploys 'sea drones' to safeguard undersea cable infrastructure : Read more

 

[das_stig]

Very handy as they can just hang around for weeks if not months using little power, monitoring quietly not just for ships but for subs using passive sonar.

 

[bit_user]

... a Chinese-owned cargo ship was suspected of sabotaging an undersea internet cable connecting the island country to the East Coast of the United States.

Comments on that article were locked, so I couldn't report this error. However, the diagram in that article clearly shows it connecting to the US West Coast.

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[Amdlova]

The world has too much drones right now... 🤣

 

[das_stig]

Comments on that article were locked, so I couldn't report this error. However, the diagram in that article clearly shows it connecting to the US West Coast.

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West, East, I'm just surprised TH actually managed to identify the USA and not Portugal, not known for accuracy.

 

[passivecool]

Cool, so... the drones will take a selfie with the offending ship. That should scare them off!

 

[OldAnalogWorld]

Again, obvious politics on a technical forum - why is this news here?

 

[bit_user]

Cool, so... the drones will take a selfie with the offending ship. That should scare them off!

1. Catching them in the act gives an upper hand in dealing with the offenders. So far, attribution is getting in the way of that.
2. Direct observation provides a much better chance of interception.
3. It should also serve as a deterrent, hopefully.

That's just how I see it. All of this is just speculation, on my part.

 

[TJ Hooker]

The War Zone article mentions the drones "[having] the capabilities under human control” for phase 1, wonder what they can up with for a communications channel that works underwater. Maybe an acoustic link to some sort of surface vessel/buoy, which can then relay using conventional wireless comms?

Requiring a surface element seems like it would lessen the system's ability to remain undetected. The article doesn't say that undetected observation is the goal, but it seems plausible, because if someone trying to secretly sabatoge the cables sees your observation equipment, you'd think they'd just go find another spot that's not being monitored. I'm guessing it isn't practical to observe the entire length of all cables of interest.