A military operation has been launched by the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) to track Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ using AI technology.

The UK Government announced that the JEF had activated the UK-led reaction system to monitor potential threats to undersea infrastructure and track Russian activity following reported damage to a major undersea cable in the Baltic Sea.

The operation, dubbed Nordic Warden, harnesses AI to assess data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System (AIS) ships use to broadcast their position, calculating the risk posed by each vessel entering the area of interest. 

Specific vessels identified as being part of Russia’s shadow fleet have been registered into the system so they can be closely monitored, with real time warnings issued to JEF and NATO allies.

“Nordic Warden will help protect against both deliberate acts of sabotage as well as cases of extreme negligence which we have seen cause damage to underwater cables,” said UK defence secretary, John Healey.

“Harnessing the power of AI, this UK-led system is a major innovation which allows us the unprecedented ability to monitor large areas of the sea with a comparatively small number of resources, helping us stay secure at home and strong abroad.”

Twenty-two areas of interest, including parts of the English Channel, North Sea, Kattegat, and Baltic Sea, are currently being monitored from the JEF’s operational headquarters in Northwood, where personnel from all ten JEF nations work side by side.

The Government said that the initiative highlights how the JEF is using innovative technologies to boost collective European security, while continuing to support NATO’s operations.

Nordic Warren comes following reported damage on Christmas Day to the Estlink2 undersea cable in the Baltic, which authorities in Finland suggest may have been caused by a tanker forming part of Russia’s shadow fleet of vessels, which the country allegedly uses to attempt to bypass international sanctions.

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Estlink2 links Finland and Estonia with a 650 megawatt capacity transmission, roughly 170km long and mostly undersea, providing a crucial source of power to the Baltic nations.

As geopolitical tensions have risen following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy security of European countries has been the subject of intense focus, resulting in both the JEF and NATO members enhancing their military presence in the Baltic Sea.

Finland’s national police service, the Poliisi, reported that an anchor belonging to a Russian-linked tanker, the Eagle S, was recovered in connection with the Estlink2 cable rupture, with crew members now detained and a criminal investigation ongoing.