AI boosts Baltic security with undersea cable protection
The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), consisting of forces from 10 Northern European countries, has enhanced the protection of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea and the monitoring of the Russian "shadow fleet," among other activities, by employing artificial intelligence, announced the governments of the United Kingdom and Sweden.
The British AI-based tool collects data from various sources regarding suspicious ships and their positions in real time over extensive maritime areas and assesses the risk of incidents occurring.
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"The +Nordic Warden+ system helps protect us from sabotage and instances of extreme negligence," emphasized John Healey, the UK's defence minister, in a statement. The UK leads the JEF.
Ship monitoring is conducted from the JEF headquarters in Northwood (near London), from where, in the event of a threat, a warning will be sent to JEF patrols and NATO countries. The use of artificial intelligence for this purpose was tested for the first time in the summer of 2024.
The Swedish government noted in a statement that the JEF countries (Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) decided to strengthen Baltic monitoring for the second time in history. The first joint patrols, composed of 20 warships, were dispatched in the fall of 2023; it was emphasized that this was a "clear signal to deter Russia."
Sweden's Defence Minister Pal Jonson noted that "the activities of the JEF complement NATO's presence in the Baltic Sea." "It means further strengthening of monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure," Jonson stressed.
