NATO Begins Maritime Surveillance Enhancement Initiative

The Swedish Defence Minister and NATO Defence Ministers have endorsed the Digital Ocean Vision, an initiative to improve NATO’s maritime situational awareness from seabed to space. 

The Digital Ocean initiative is set to change Allied maritime domain awareness by enhancing coordination between Allied and national capabilities employed for maritime surveillance. 

This includes a wide range of assets from satellites to autonomous systems above, on, and below the sea.

NATO has already moved to better address maritime threats. At the Vilnius Summit, NATO leaders agreed to establish NATO’s Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure within NATO’s Maritime Command (MARCOM) in the United Kingdom, to increase its situational awareness and enhance deterrence and defence in the maritime domain. 

Earlier this year, NATO also created a Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell at NATO Headquarters in Brussels to improve information sharing and exchange best practices between NATO Allies, partners, and the private sector. 

The Digital Ocean Vision initiative will further enhance maritime situational awareness for the security of critical undersea infrastructure.

As a next step, NATO Allies are developing a roadmap to guide the future development of maritime capabilities in line with other efforts across the Alliance, including NATO’s Digital Transformation and the Defence Production Action Plan.