The English coast’s invisible iron dome to stop Putin disrupting bank transfers | UK | News

Britain is working on a plan to counter Russia’s alleged attempts to disrupt undersea cables. A Parliamentary report published in September said there were “numerous allegations that Russia and China are using proxy actors to sabotage undersea cables, particularly in the Baltic and Indo-Pacific regions.” In January, it emerged that a Russian boat was being tracked by the Royal Navy after it spent 14 hours offshore in the Bristol Channel sharing data cables.

In November, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said it was tracking a Russian research vessel Yantar “designed to threaten our critical national underwater infrastructure”.

The Geostrategy Council said in 2023 that much of the UK’s economy and social services “are based on the continuous and uninterrupted use of undersea cables providing data connectivity”. An article published in the Spectator noted that there are around 60 undersea cables in the UK and that if a few of them were cut or disrupted, phone calls, internet connections and international bank transactions worth around $10 trillion a day would be at risk.

The council added: “If enough wires are cut or sabotaged, an incredibly diverse range of aspects of life in the UK will be at risk, from millions of international banking transactions to medical activities that rely on cloud-based access to data.”

The government announced last year that the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) had activated an advanced British-led “response system” to track potential threats to undersea infrastructure after damage was reported to a major undersea cable in the Baltic Sea. A statement was also issued “expressing concerns about damage to Estlink2 and underlining the Alliance’s determination to work together to protect common interests.”

A November 2025 House of Commons inquiry briefing stated that the Navy would contribute to an “Atlantic Bastion” concept with type 26 anti-submarine frigates, uncrewed surface ships and uncrewed underwater vehicles equipped with artificial intelligence-powered acoustic detection systems and “integrated into a new digital targeting network.”

“These will be deployed alongside other service assets to create a comprehensive and layered sensor network operating over, above and below water to create an integrated, multi-domain approach involving the RAF, Strategic Command, NATO, the UK Hydrographic Office and commercial partners,” the document said. expressions were also added.

Officials have warned that Russia’s underwater and surface activities in the northern Atlantic Ocean have increased in recent years.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies said in 2019 that the GIUK Gap, which separates the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea from the open Atlantic Ocean, had “returned as one of NATO’s most important strategic maritime concerns” after a period of post-Cold War “neglect”.

The government’s 2025 Strategic Defense Review described “Atlantic Bastion” as the Royal Navy’s plan to secure the North Atlantic “against the persistent and growing underwater threat of a modernizing Russian submarine force”.

First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said in December: “We are a Navy that thrives when it is allowed to adapt. To thrive. We have never stood still; for threats never stop.” He added:

“The SDR has identified that the maritime domain is increasingly vulnerable and maritime security is a strategic imperative for the UK. The time for action is now.

“This starts with Atlantic Bastion, our bold new approach to securing the underwater battlespace against a modernizing Russia. Our commitment to the Alliance. And it’s happening now.

“A revolutionary underwater network is taking shape from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Norwegian Sea. More autonomous, more resilient, more lethal – and built by the British. We have already made rapid and significant progress in delivering the Atlantic Bastion. A force that keeps us safe at home and strong abroad.”