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4 weeks ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’
In the keynote address at the annual Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) conference – held this year in Oslo, Norway – Rear Admiral Oliver Berdal said CUI protection sits high up on security agendas for good reason, following a spate of incidents involving damage and disruption to CUI networks including in the Baltic and Norwegian seas. Incidents in waters off Lofoten and Svalbard, Norway occurred in 2021 and 2022.
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1 month ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’
The French Navy (Marine Nationale) is looking towards a vertical take-off/landing capability for uncrewed aerial vehicles (VTOL UAV) to enhance the operational reach and flexibility of its surface ships, including those providing core at-sea surveillance presence for the navy, a senior officer from the service told a conference in London in late January.
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1 month ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’
Estonia sits at the centre of recent Baltic Sea security threats for NATO countries, with two of several critical underwater infrastructure (CUI) incidents involving damage to nodes connecting Estonia to Finland. These incidents occurred, however, at a time when the Estonian Navy was already planning to enhance its force structure and capability, responding to wider deterioration in Baltic regional security.
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2 months ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’
NATO has tested its capability to integrate uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) into its operational task groups. The capability demonstration – which took place on a training range in the Baltic Sea off Denmark, from 17-20 February – was a significant step in the development and operational integration of USVs into NATO Allied Command Operations (ACO) activities. USVs can add mass for operational task groups, including providing surface surveillance that helps build maritime situational awareness.
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2 months ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’
This change in the nature of the threat at sea and the required responses were discussed by senior naval leaders at the Paris Naval Conference 2025 on 4 February, an event hosted jointly by the French Navy and IFRI (the French international relations institute). Admiral Nicolas Vaujour, the French Navy’s Chief of Staff, underlined that collective action, including improved information sharing, is integral to finding new ways to tackle the evolving threat.
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2 months ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’
Speaking on 4 February at the Paris Naval Conference 2025 – an event hosted jointly by the French navy and IFRI (the French institute for international relations) – Adm Vaujour said the navy is using dual-crewing on many of these ships to increase operational output through adding more sea days, as well as improving in-service ship support processes to increase platform availability.
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2 months ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’ |Robin Häggblom
Initiated on 13 January 2025, ‘Baltic Sentry’ is building maritime surveillance and presence activity to deter rogue actor threats to the Baltic Sea’s CUI network. Two NATO task groups – Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) and Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) – sit centrally within this activity.
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2 months ago | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’ |Tayfun Ozberk
A significant step was taken in December 2024. Here, the navy received the first production-standard USV delivered under its Système de Lutte Anti-Mines Marines du Futur (SLAM-F) maritime mine counter measures (MMCM) programme, Rear Admiral David Desfougères, the French Navy’s head of planning and programmes, told Naval News. The C-Sweep USV, developed by Thales, was handed over by international defence equipment co-operation organisation OCCAR .
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’ |Tomasz Grotnik
The RN Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset shadowed the Russian survey and research vessel Yantar earlier this week. In a 22 January press release, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Somerset’s tracking activities came “just weeks after [Yantar] was caught loitering over CUI in UK waters”. The press release added that an RN submarine had surfaced close to Yantar to demonstrate to the Russian ship that it had been tracked covertly.
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Jan 21, 2025 | 
navalnews.com | Lee Willett |maritime issues. Based |'Dynamic Manta’ |Martin Manaranche
On 13 January 2025, NATO commenced ‘Baltic Sentry’ in response to recent incidents involving damage to critical undersea infrastructure (CUI) on the Baltic seabed. In the wake of these incidents, political and public debate has focused on whether the damage was caused by commercial ships dragging their anchors across the seabed. To counter the risk of re-occurrence, ‘Baltic Sentry’ is designed to deliver focused deterrence through enhanced surveillance presence across the region.
