How AUVs are helping safeguard Europe’s underwater infrastructure
European states are increasingly moving toward the adoption of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to protect critical underwater infrastructure. Long considered at risk of the Russian Navy, NATO’s cable routes require a new form of protection. It was not until February 2023 that the Alliance established the Underwater Infrastructure Coordination Cell, a task force dedicated to just this purpose.
The rupture of the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022 acted as a ‘catalyst’ in this respect, pushing European states closer to the AUVs for imaging, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-submarine warfare, and seabed warfare. The European Defense Fund 2023 Call for Proposals allotted 90 million euros ($98 million) in part for uncrewed anti-submarine capabilities.