The British commander of NATO maritime forces says the alliance needs to strive to build up its intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities, as well as modernize efforts to counter mines.
Vice Adm. Peter Hudson, the commander of Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), told a group of reporters Tuesday that trying to cover broad areas can prove difficult, using as an example the long Somali coastline the needs to be watched to counter piracy.
“How do you provide an ISR presence that deters and gives you the right trip wires on 3,000 kilometers of coastline?” he said.
Improving the ISR activities shouldn’t be limited to airborne capabilities but could also include a number of small boats carrying sensors to detect threats.
Hudson said enemy capabilities designed to deny access remain among the highest priorities to address, and also pointed out the cyber-attacks can be a key vulnerability that needs to be tackled.
“That’s a field of warfare for which NATO has recognized we’ve still got to invest more in,” Hudson said.
The Royal Navy admiral said the alliance needs to embrace newer technology for mine countermeasures, possibly through the deployment unmanned underwater vehicles, as part of an effort toward “rekindling our mine warfare capability, which has been chipped away in recent years.”
“There are really opportunities out there to come up with a different way of fighting in that sphere,” he said.
Increasing NATO’s maritime presence is part of the alliance’s overall effort to improve its capabilities outlined during last month summit of its leaders in Wales, where growing concerns over Russian re-assertiveness, including over the conflict in Ukraine, were raised.
“The technology and capability challenges are there and they will continue to roll forward as time goes on, but those are the ones we would like to put some effort to at the moment,” Hudson said.