The UK Royal Navy (RN) is preparing to commission and operate the future RFA Proteus, the first of two planned Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ships (MROSSs), against a backdrop of increasing concern about the growing seabed warfare risk and increasing high-level naval focus on building critical underwater infrastructure warfare (CUIW) capability.
On 16 September, Proteus sailed from the Cammell Laird shipyard on Merseyside, northwest UK, having completed conversion work prior to preparing for military operations. On 9 October, the vessel pulled into His Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth. The vessel was purchased originally, from the commercial offshore support sector, in January 2023. Work completed at the shipyard included routine maintenance to ensure the ship remains fully compliant with statute.
“There will now be a period of sea trials and evaluations to ensure Proteus is fully ready to join the fleet,” an RN spokesperson told Naval News on 20 September. “We are committed to having Proteus ready for operations later this year.”
On 6 September, in a speech in London for the Royal United Services Institute’s Gallipoli Memorial Lecture, the RN’s First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sir Ben Key detailed the operational benefits Proteus will bring in meeting requirements for CUIW capability.
“[Proteus] will deploy operationally … to protect our own critical national infrastructure on the seabed, using advanced sensors, autonomous vehicles, and submersibles.”
Admiral Sir Ben Key, RN’s First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff
Set against RN efforts to respond rapidly to the urgent operational requirement created by the Cui Threat, Adm Key added that Proteus had been “purchased at pace”.
Adm Key discussed the operational reality of the continuing CUI threat, particularly the risk of strategic spillover from the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war. “The ramifications of Russia’s war self-evidently stretch beyond the Ukrainian landmass and the Black Sea. Whilst still unattributed, the attack on the Nordstream pipelines in 2022 feels like a second-order consequence …. It was a wake-up moment too about the vulnerability of the critical national infrastructure on the seabed,” he said.
“Whether carrying gas, electricity, or the data so vital to our economy, these [cables and] pipelines criss-cross every bit of the seabed around the United Kingdom, and travel far beyond under the high seas that make up two thirds of the world’s oceans and are neither governed nor controlled by any one body,” Adm Key added.
Here, he raised the issue of the potential implications of the targeting of CNI and the role of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). There is growing debate across the international community as to whether CUI protection should become part of the UNCLOS remit because of the potential widespread consequences of a CUI attack for the international community as a whole. “It is beholden on all of us who value free and open use of the world’s oceans to defend [critical national infrastructure],” said Adm Key.
Adm Key reiterated the need for the international community to continue to respond collectively in addressing the CUI threat. “Protecting cables and pipelines is not a role for navies or militaries alone. It requires a whole-sector approach from government, business, and industry – and it needs international co-operation.”
Nonetheless, he highlighted how Western navies are responding to the elements of the CUI threat that do fall within their collective remit.
“The Russian Navy, particularly its submarine force, represents a potent capability,” he said. “Levels of activity are higher than in decades and, while Russia regenerates its army, in the short term naval and air assets have been less affected by the Ukraine war and continue to be a significant part of their strategy.” Regarding the CUI threat in particular, and the wider challenge of the increase in naval activity across the Euro-Atlantic theatre, Adm Key said “In response, [the RN is] continuing co-ordinated exercises and deployments with our regional allies, stretching from the High North to the Baltic and the Mediterranean.” “Together, we are improving our tactics and our interoperability in order to constrain Russia’s maritime flank, denying them the ability to focus their attention on us,” he added.
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