The UK set out a £90 million plan for Atlantic Net on November 10, 2026. The Ministry of Defence said the new North Atlantic network would help track Russian submarines and guard undersea cables.
The ministry named Ocean Infinity Solutions as its partner. It said drones, sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) would feed a single service directed by the Royal Navy. The aim is to give warships and Astute-class submarines more warning of threats. The new tools would work with those crewed vessels.
How Atlantic Net would work
Ocean Infinity also said it had won the role of commercial mission partner. The firm plans to bring sea operations, data and new tools together with other firms. It said the mix would include ships with small crews or none, plus sensors and AI.
The ministry said Atlantic Net is the first phase of its wider Atlantic Bastion plan. That plan pairs crewed and uncrewed systems to watch the seas and guard data and power links. The ministry expects the deal to support almost 200 skilled jobs at the firm and its direct suppliers.
Why cables matter beyond defense
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says undersea cables carry more than 99% of cross-border data traffic. When links fail, it says, the effects reach economies, public services and access to information. That figure covers data sent across borders, not all traffic on the internet.
Yet most cable faults are accidents, says the International Cable Protection Committee. The industry body puts the share at 70–80% of roughly 150–200 faults each year worldwide. Fishing and ships’ anchors cause most of this damage, it says.
For example, the group says sea charts should show cable routes so crews know where not to fish or drop an anchor. Hiding those routes would cause more harm, it says. People seeking to attack cables could still find them by other means.
Watching for threats is only one part of keeping links working. The ITU-backed summit on cable resilience also called for diverse routes and places where cables reach land, plus prompt repairs. Those steps help keep data flowing when a link fails.
The next step
Navy Lookout said defense minister Luke Pollard aims to have Atlantic Net in use from 2027. The outlet said the first areas of focus include waters between Greenland, Iceland and the UK. That is a goal for the rollout, not proof that the network is already in use.
Sources: UK Ministry of Defence, Ocean Infinity, ITU, ICPC, Navy Lookout
