Royal Navy tests new tech to protect seabed infrastructure

The Royal Navy has trialled uncrewed and autonomous systems to safeguard critical undersea infrastructure during Exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia, according to a Navy News update.

The two-week series of trials formed part of AUKUS Pillar II Undersea Warfare Capability Development, involving the Royal Navy’s Mine Warfare Battlestaff, Mine and Threat Exploitation Group, and Diving and Threat Exploitation Group.

According to the service, the focus was on developing tactics and technology to counter emerging threats to seabed cables, pipelines, and other infrastructure.

Building on earlier seabed warfare exercises, the activity marked what the Navy described as a “significant step forward” in trilateral collaboration with Australia and the United States. It included the use of remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles in simulated real-world conditions.

Participants operated from the Australian Defence Vessel Guidance, with several milestones recorded. For the first time, a battlestaff commanded a trilateral seabed warfare group from a ship at sea, and more than 17 joint remotely operated vehicle missions were completed.

Lieutenant Commander Josh Beale, Executive Officer of the Mine Warfare Battlestaff, led the UK contingent. He said: “The opportunity for the UK to lead the trilateral team has been a real privilege. This exercise not only fostered joint capability development but also provided a realistic operational scenario that my team had to navigate – and may be called upon to fulfil in future operations.”

Commodore Marcus Rose, Royal Navy Deputy Director Underwater Battlespace, said: “These operational exercises are an excellent opportunity to accelerate our understanding of seabed warfare capabilities and to get them to warfighting as quickly as possible.”

The trials took place in challenging southern hemisphere winter conditions and were conducted in distinct phases to test different aspects of seabed protection.

The Royal Navy confirmed that further integrated experiments are scheduled for later in 2025, with a larger-scale exercise planned for 2026 to continue developing AUKUS Pillar II seabed warfare capabilities.