NATO put its new Task Force X naval drones built to stop sabotage and blunt Russian aggression to the test
New NATO naval drones are being put to the test in the Baltic Sea.
The uncrewed surface vehicles are part of the alliance's efforts to deter aggression and sabotage.
The new Task Force X is reminiscent of the US Navy's Task Force 59 efforts.
The NATO alliance has been testing new Task Force X naval drones in the strategic waters of the Baltic Sea, showing off the new capabilities of these uncrewed systems.
The drones are intended to help the allies keep an eye on Russia's activities in the region and deter the potential sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure such as data cables.
NATO Allied Command Transformation announced the drone demonstrations Wednesday, saying they "signal a significant step forward in integrating unmanned surface vessels, commonly referred to as USVs, to bolster NATO's ability to safeguard critical infrastructure and maintain security in an increasingly complex environment."
French Adm. Pierre Vandier, the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, said Task Force X will fill surveillance gaps in the region. Bart Hollants, an official from NATO's Allied Command Transformation Branch, called it "the first tangible results" of NATO's efforts to curb security threats in the Baltic.
The demonstration involved NATO maritime assets, including from the Royal Danish and German navies, testing how drones work together with crewed vessels. The testing activities included tactical maneuvering exercises like live-fire events with the goal of integrating drones into NATO's naval forces.
NATO announced its plans to establish Task Force X and employ naval drones in late January. The aim of the project is to counter and deter state and non-state actors from sabotaging undersea cables, as well as curb potential Russian aggression.
Task Force X is working to field "a fleet of maritime autonomous systems to provide persistent surveillance, detect and track potential threats, and enhance situational awareness," NATO said. "This approach offers a cost-effective and rapidly deployable solution to counter Russian aggression."
The move came after several incidents in which undersea cables in the Baltic were damaged by vessels linked to Russia and China.
These troubling incidents were suspected of being part of Russia's ongoing hybrid and irregular warfare tactics against Western European nations, gray-zone tactics below the threshold of armed conflict. Other recent examples include Russian interference in European elections and misinformation campaigns.
Concern about the targeting of critical undersea cables and related infrastructure has led NATO to take action. NATO's new Task Force X, the alliance said, is similar to the US Navy's Task Force 59, an initiative fielding naval drones in the Middle East.
Task Force 59 is a first-of-its-kind Navy initiative started in September 2021. Since then, the task force has conducted at least 35 bilateral and multilateral exercises, operating drones at sea for more than 60,000 hours across the Middle East.
Both the US Navy and NATO's efforts speak to the growing employment of uncrewed systems and, to some degree, autonomy in surveillance and deterrence roles. In both cases, the drones are intended to give military forces more options for missions, as well as a wider reach in troubled waters.
There are still plenty of unknowns about how these systems will be further integrated into naval warfare for both the US and NATO, though. Ukraine's use of drone boats to pummel Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been a notable win and asymmetric element in the war in Ukraine.
"The integration of autonomous systems also raises important issues such as command and control, data security, and the ethical implications of using artificial intelligence in warfare," NATO said in its release on the testing. "NATO is aware of these issues and is developing safeguards and protocols to ensure the responsible use of these technologies."
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