An underwater robot designed to prevent adversaries from sabotaging undersea cables and pipelines has been developed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
The UK has around 60 undersea cables, which are crucial for global internet communication, carrying 99% of its data.
More cables connect Britain’s energy grid with other European countries to allow trading of excess electricity across borders. Some estimates suggest that if the UK is to hit its target of 50GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, there needs to be substantial investment in the installation and maintenance of thousands of kilometres of subsea cables.
Dstl has incorporated a number of systems into a commercially available remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that allows it to detect unexploded ordnance and place explosive charges remotely to neutralise them in a safe way.
John, an explosives engineer with Dstl, said: “This technology would be a valuable toolset for keeping our Armed Forces safe whilst providing...