NATO allies are participating in the ongoing Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Unmanned Systems 2024 experimentation exercise in Portugal to test the capability of various autonomous systems in collaborating and defeating new maritime threats.
Activities during the three-week REPMUS 24, which began on Sept. 9, include connecting maritime surveillance assets from allied nations and operating autonomous vehicles in multidomain operations, anti-submarine warfare, naval mine warfare and critical undersea infrastructure protection missions.
Partner countries and organizations, NATO commands, research institutions and industry players are also participating in the event, which was conducted in line with other efforts designed to address a more challenging security environment in the maritime domain.
In 2023, the alliance established a Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure in the United Kingdom to increase situational awareness and enhance deterrence and defense. It also built a new Critical Undersea Infrastructure Coordination Cell in its headquarters in Brussels to enable improved information sharing between NATO allies, partners and the private sector.
REPMUS 24 aligns with the Digital Ocean Vision initiative launched by the NATO defense ministers in 2023 to enhance NATO’s maritime situational awareness using satellites and autonomous surveillance systems.