Patrolling the depths: The 'Deep Sea Police' guarding underwater cables from foreign sabotage
The vehicle is designed for surveillance, as NATO nations scramble to protect critical undersea infrastructure.
An underwater vehicle has become the last line of defence against Russian sabotage, patrolling the vast network of undersea cables that keeps Britain connected.
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An underwater surveillance vehicle has been engineered by German company EUROATLAS to guard the world’s hidden data highways from foreign sabotage.
"You can’t deter what you can’t detect," Head of Strategy & Special Projects Verineia Codrean told LBC.
"Just a few coordinated attacks could mean that you could cut the water supply, the electricity supply, and the communication supply to a nation.
"You don't need much more to send the country in chaos."
More than 99 per cent of Britain's data traffic travels through undersea cables. Around 60 Undersea cables connect the nation to the outside world as the 'backbone' of our internet system.
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These cables are often long and remote, making them difficult and costly to monitor.
The company warned that the impact of a cable being cut is "significant and immediate", and that few vessels have the capability to carry out repairs.
The challenge, according to German firm EUROATLAS, lies in the lack of visibility beneath the sea.
“The things that are happening on land and in the air, we see them. What is happening under the sea - you can’t see it.
"There are things that are lurking in the water, and I’m not referring to marine life.”
This comes as HMS Iron Duke monitored the surfaced Russian Kilo-class submarine Novorossiysk and its support tug Yakov Grebelsky from October 7 to 9 near the French coast in the Channel.
The Navy said the operation is part of the government’s ongoing commitment to safeguard the integrity of UK waters.
Earlier this year, HMS Somerset followed the Yantar, which the UK believes is used by Moscow to gather intelligence on Britain’s undersea networks.
Defence Secretary John Healey told Parliament at the time: "Let me be clear, this is a Russian spy ship used for gathering intelligence and mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure."
Western allies have also linked Russia to previous incidents of undersea damage. Finland seized the Eagle S oil tanker which was carrying Russian oil and was suspected of dragging its anchor, severing a Baltic Sea power cable last year.
Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in targeting Europe’s underwater energy and communications systems.
The spokesperson added that new vehicle, named Greyshark, aims to provide “persistent maritime awareness” - constant monitoring of activity in national waters. ”
Ms Codrean pointed out most naval operators can only react to sabotage once an incident has occurred - "but that’s already too late."
"You can’t develop a plan or you can’t develop an action if you don’t know what’s happening."
The chairman for the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) said: "Our internet relies on undersea cables: around 99% of our data goes through them, connecting the UK to the outside world.
"As the geopolitical environment worsens, foreign states are seeking asymmetric ways to hold us at risk. Our internet cable network looks like an increasingly vulnerable soft underbelly.
"There is no need for panic—we have a good degree of resilience, and awareness of the challenge is growing. But we must be clear-eyed about the risks and consequences: an attack of this nature would hit us hard."
The undersea vehicle in development will be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, giving the machine up to 16 weeks of autonomy underwater.
The Greyshark can patrol undersea cable lines and detect corrosion, damage, suspected sabotage and unauthorised vehicles.
"You can't risk a human life to go and inspect it. You can with an autonomous system because you're not risking life, it's just technology," Ms Codrean explained.
The technology uses a combination of sensors, fed through AI software, to provide an accurate picture of the cable in real-time.
It carries advanced sensors and systems for its three main missions: monitoring, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and countermeasure operations.
The Greyshark underwater vehicle took part in NATO’s REP(MUS) exercise in Portugal after completing a series of sea trials.
The firm said the trials confirmed the full capabilities of the battery-powered version of the system before it joined the multinational testing event.
REP(MUS) (Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems) is an annual NATO exercise in which member nations test autonomous and robotic systems for air, land, and naval operations.
EUROATLAS said the exercise has strict entry criteria, allowing only fully validated tech to participate in the simulations, which are designed to mirror real-world NATO operational scenarios.
The vehicle is yet to be procured by any navy, but the company claimed they are in "several advanced discussions for contracts".
The Greyshark's biodynamic shape was designed to move efficiently through the water, with as much drag as a two-Euro coin.
The vehicle apparently mimics the streamlined form of a penguin, a design choice made to improve hydrodynamics.