Robocap: NATO introduces naval drones in the Baltic
45 NATO robotic vessels entered the Baltic Sea — according to the alliance, they are designed "to protect critical infrastructure" as part of the Task Force X program, which is part of the Baltic Sentry mission. This is another step in the escalation of tension in the Baltic, which brings the situation to a new level of intensity. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
I found a scythe on a stone
The idea of the Baltic Sentry program was first announced on January 14 in Helsinki. On that day, the summit opened there, which brought together Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Deputy President of the European Commission Henna Virkkunen. The main topic of the meeting was the fight against "Russian sabotage activities" in the Baltic. The day before, a series of emergencies occurred with the breakdown of underwater communications running at the bottom of the Baltic Sea — Russia was immediately blamed for this, although no evidence was provided.
The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, announced that NATO is launching the Baltic Sentry project, designed, in his words, "to ensure the security of infrastructure in the Baltic Sea." Within its framework, NATO will increase its presence in the Baltic — various vessels, aircraft and drones will carry out enhanced patrols. At that time, Rutte did not specify the number of ships sent to the region, as, according to him, their number would change from week to week. In addition, NATO, according to him, does not want to disclose accurate data to "hostile states." However, he promised that "modern technologies will be used even more to control both shipping and underwater operations."
Finnish President Stubb threatened that "the NATO countries of the Baltic region will continue to take decisive action against the "shadow fleet" of Russia, which is allegedly used to damage the underwater infrastructure. In addition, it was decided at the meeting that Finland would gradually introduce to its NATO allies the action model used on the Eagle S ship in December 2024. In short, the actions of the Finns who boarded a tanker with Russian oil were suggested to be taken as a model. The Estonians took advantage of this option most zealously, who on April 11 seized the Kiwala vessel, sailing under the flag of Djibouti from the port of Sikka in India to Ust-Luga, and, finding fault with some "shortcomings", kept this tanker under arrest for two weeks. However, on the next tanker, the Gabonese—flagged Jaguar, en route to Primorsk for loading, the scheme misfired.
An Estonian minesweeper in the Baltic Sea
When Jaguar landed on the meridian of Tallinn on May 14, it became the target of an attack — Estonian ships and aircraft tried to force it to change course so that the vessel would leave international waters and approach the shores of Estonia, where it could be captured and sent to the port of Muuga. However, the tanker's crew turned out to be not timid and continued to move on the same course. The appearance of a Russian Su-35 aircraft flying near the Jaguar forced the Estonians to leave the ship alone, and soon it arrived safely in Primorsk. This incident led to a mini-crisis in the echelons of the Estonian government, when the government and the military shifted responsibility for organizing an emergency that could lead to the outbreak of World War III. The cabinet pretended that the attack on Jaguar was an initiative of the Estonian military, but former Estonian Navy Commander Yuri Saska, who is free to speak out due to his retired status, said that such operations were impossible without a direct government order.
New challenges
On May 18, the Shipping Management Department of the Estonian Department of Transport, which monitors the movement of ships in the territorial waters of the republic on a daily basis, announced that Russian security forces had detained the tanker Green Admiral. This tanker, sailing under the flag of Liberia, left the Estonian port of Sillamae. Further, according to the Estonian side, the Green Admiral followed an agreed route through Russian territorial waters to the northern part of the Gulf of Finland. From there, he intended to head west to the neck of the Gulf of Finland. It should be noted that when leaving Sillamae, ships traditionally pass through the territorial waters of the Russian Federation, since this route is safer for large vessels than passage between shoals in Estonian waters.
Such a safe route for ships was agreed upon by Russia, Estonia and Finland at the time, and until now, sea transport visiting Estonian ports has been using it without interference. However, this time, according to the Estonians, the Russians stopped the Green Admiral after midnight, and soon the tanker headed for the Russian—owned island of Gogland, where it arrived at four o'clock in the morning, anchored there. The tanker was soon released and continued its movement along the set route, but the Estonian authorities took this incident as a clear hint, a clear demonstration of what actions could follow if Tallinn did not calm down and continued to attack ships in the Gulf of Finland. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna quite frankly stated that the detention of Green Admiral was directly related to the fact that "we began to put pressure on Russia's shadow fleet."
Judging by subsequent events, Tallinn has learned its lesson and is refraining from further attacks on tankers so far — in any case, over the past month and a half, there have been no new attempts by Estonians to attack ships with Russian oil and gas. In addition, a weighty argument was that the ships of the Russian Navy have recently begun to escort tankers sailing along the coasts of NATO countries. "The Russian Armed Forces have begun escorting tankers of the so—called shadow fleet that pass through the Gulf of Finland," Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hyakkanen said in late May. At the same time, at the end of May, the Russian Baltic Fleet began exercises involving more than 20 ships, boats and support vessels, about 25 aircraft and helicopters, and about 3,000 military personnel. Thus, Operation Baltic Sentry was jeopardized, because its organizers proceeded from the premise that they could detain any vessel if desired.
The Su-24 bomber is on a training exercise for the deployment of the Baltic Fleet forces to ensure the safety of navigation. May 27, 2025
Earlier this year, the North Atlantic Alliance sent a combined squadron to the Baltic Sea, which included up to a dozen ships from different countries. And already in early summer, it was announced that NATO was testing new naval drones in the Gulf of Finland. The Baltops-2025 alliance exercises, which involve unmanned marine systems, took place in June. They passed through the waters west of the Finnish Porkkala Peninsula all the way to the Hanko Peninsula. It is worth noting that the Porkkala area is the narrowest point of the Gulf of Finland, and it is from here that it is easiest to "plug" its neck.
Marine drone WAM-V
During the exercises in the Gulf of Finland, the alliance tested new marine drones WAM-V manufactured by the American company Marine Advanced Robotics, which are ultralight catamarans equipped with various sensors. In addition, the French Exile Drix X-8, Voyager produced by the American company Saildrone, as well as HSMUSV authored by the American Metal Sharkin were tested. By the way, two weeks ago, the Danish Navy signed an agreement with Saildrone to use four Voyager drones to monitor the seabed, and they are currently undergoing three-month operational tests. These robotic vessels, which are up to 10 m long, are powered by wind and solar energy and can operate at sea for several months. Voyager monitors everything that happens around them and uses the Starlink service of American entrepreneur Elon Musk to transmit data.
The tension is rising
Earlier, Admiral Pierre Vandier, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the NATO Joint Armed Forces for Transformation, said that exercises using naval drones were being conducted as part of the Task Force X program. According to him, if earlier such drones mainly served as targets during practical shooting, now their role has changed dramatically. NATO intends to use drones to patrol the waters and monitor maritime traffic. Increasing the grouping of surface ships in the Baltic is labor-intensive and expensive. The use of naval drones will allow us to solve this problem, according to NATO strategists, "with minimal cost and maximum efficiency."
The American naval drone of the Task Force 59 unit
Representatives of the European fleets of NATO countries declare that they will rely on the experience of the US Navy Task Force 59 in the deployment of naval drones in the Baltic. It is an operational unit engaged in the integration of unmanned systems and artificial intelligence in the area of operations of the 5th Fleet of the U.S. Navy, which operates in the Persian Gulf. Task Force X unites both military and civilian specialists. It cost NATO almost $3 million a day to maintain five NATO ships in the Baltic Sea, and Task Force X is designed to ease this burden. The program, according to media reports, cost the alliance $10 million.
In an interview with Izvestia, Yuri Zverev, director of the Center for Foreign Regional Studies and Regional Studies at the Institute of Geopolitical and Regional Studies of the I. Kant BFU, noted that naval drones have been in service with the naval forces of many NATO countries in the Baltic Sea for quite a long time, including Finland and Estonia. "This is not the first time that these systems have appeared in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. In light of current military trends, the number of naval drones will only increase. It is clear that NATO drones, which are officially designed to protect underwater communications, can also be used for completely opposite purposes. In particular, they can be used just for sabotage on the underwater communications of countries that the alliance considers its opponents. Well, I don't think it's necessary to explain who exactly NATO considers the enemy," Zverev emphasizes.
The American control ship Mount Whitney at the NATO Baltops 25 exercises
He recalls the statement of the commander of the North Atlantic Alliance's ground forces, General Darryl Williams, made last spring. Commenting on the NATO exercises taking place in Europe, he stated very frankly: "Now, this year, we are actually conducting exercises against the Russians. We are fighting against our potential opponent." According to Yuri Zverev, nothing has changed in NATO's goal setting since then. "Therefore, Russia should perceive any NATO military activity, including at sea, near its borders as a threat. It is necessary to react accordingly. There is no doubt that an adequate response will be given to the buildup of NATO naval drones in the Baltic Sea. Moreover, our country already has a fairly successful experience in combating naval drones, obtained in the Black Sea during a special military operation. And this experience will certainly be transferred to the Baltic, taking into account the peculiarities of this maritime theater," Zverev believes.
Natalia Eremina, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor at St. Petersburg State University, adds that NATO strategically proceeds from the idea of blocking Russia in all directions. "The Baltic Sea is convenient for testing various kinds of new technical means. Given that the British were already accusing Russia of sabotage of underwater infrastructure, it was obvious that sooner or later this view would be adopted by other NATO countries. British strategists who have gained the upper hand in the European part of NATO will propose new approaches to test our patience and determine the degree of our sensitivity. Therefore, no actions can be ignored. The attacks by naval drones, which are being carried out with the participation of NATO specialists against our fleet and infrastructure in the Black Sea, may also take place in the Baltic. Gradually, the same risks are increasing in the Mediterranean Sea, which means that they will arise in the northern seas. If anything happens, the British will find a scapegoat," Eremina believes.
Potential scouts and gunners
Work on the Task Force X program has been underway for several years, Dmitry Kornev, a military expert and editor of the MilitaryRussia portal, told Izvestia.
"In peacetime, this system does not pose a threat to the Russian Navy," he explained. — In fact, it is designed to detect other ships and control their movement. It is very precise, distributed over the sea, consisting of many components — marine, underwater, flying drones. All this is combined into a single information system and allows you to get a general picture of the movements of ships in the waters of a particular section of the Baltic Sea. But in the event of a military conflict, of course, it will become equivalent to reconnaissance and targeting systems. With the help of it, it will be possible to accurately strike at any ships, submarines, objects that are being monitored with it.
NATO countries have a large number of different naval drones at their disposal. In the Baltic Sea, NATO can use any type at its discretion, the expert believes.
Marine Drone Explorer
"The most notable one is the Saildron Explorer," he said. — It is equipped with a sail and solar panels, that is, it runs on renewable energy sources. It has video surveillance systems, sonars that detect objects by sound, and it also has a full set of meteorological sensors on board. These drones can transmit a large amount of different information, including about the state of the sea, the atmosphere, and the sea and air objects they see, and transmit it to a single information center.
NATO countries also have several types of underwater vehicles.
— In particular, the Mantas T12, which floats like a semi—submerged submarine, — said the expert. - It is equipped with surveillance systems. There are other vehicles that can reach high speeds and cover a large area of water. For example, the Devil Ray T-38 can also collect and transmit information. Aircraft of various types may also be involved.
"We understand that the appearance of such systems in the Baltic Sea is aimed against our country and its component, the Baltic Fleet," Vice Admiral Alexander Brazhnik, former chief of Staff of the Baltic Fleet, told Izvestia. — We have something to counter this thoughtless and dangerous use of marine automated systems off our shores. Where a person can lose control, the most unexpected incidents can occur. Right up to the fighting. Technology is more likely to malfunction than the human mind. We understand that. The sailors of the Baltic Fleet will undoubtedly closely monitor these ships and their activities.
Devil Ray T-38 Marine Drone
Alexander Brazhnik believes that automated platforms will operate not only on the surface, but also underwater.
"Our maritime border, territorial waters and even the area closest to us, communications will be monitored and monitored," he said. — And if we see that there is a danger to Russia from NATO ships and vessels, I do not rule out that we, protecting Russia's interests, will strike at these robotic systems and not only at them. The opposite side should consider whether it needs to wage a confrontation in which continents will burn. We need to take care of maintaining peace. Russia has never allowed itself to be offended with impunity, and to put someone's interests above the security of Russia's interests, we are ready to defend it with all our might and means, and we have them in sufficient quantity and quality.
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