The UK will spend £90 million on drones, sensors and artificial intelligence systems to help the Royal Navy counter Russian undersea threats in the North Atlantic and protect critical infrastructure, the government announced on Tuesday, 10 November 2026.

The investment is the first phase of the Royal Navy's Atlantic Bastion programme. The new system, known as Atlantic Net, will create a network of autonomous systems across the North Atlantic, working alongside the Navy's crewed fleet to hunt Russian submarines, protect the nuclear deterrent and guard undersea cables and energy networks.

What Atlantic Net will do

Atlantic Net will bring together advanced underwater sensors, uncrewed vessels, communications and data services in a system directed by the Royal Navy. The sensors are intended to detect Russian submarines and other hostile activity earlier, giving conventional anti-submarine forces more warning.

The government said the framework is due to be signed on Tuesday with Hampshire-based company Ocean Infinity Solutions. The agreement paves the way for £90 million of investment and will support almost 200 skilled new jobs, along with the company's immediate supply chain.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard announced the investment at the International Sea Power Conference in Oslo, Norway. He said the threats beneath the North Atlantic were changing and the UK was changing with them.

Why the North Atlantic matters

Atlantic Bastion is the Royal Navy's plan to build a hybrid naval force of crewed and uncrewed vessels. The programme was a key recommendation of the Strategic Defence Review, and Atlantic Net is its first element.

The undersea infrastructure it is designed to protect includes the communications cables and energy networks that connect and power the UK and its allies. Western officials have warned that Russia has increased its activity around subsea infrastructure, and Reuters reported that Russian incursions into UK waters have risen by almost a third over the past two years.

The £90 million figure is equivalent to about $121 million. The government said the investment would strengthen the Royal Navy's ability to protect crucial shipping routes and undersea infrastructure, and make the UK more secure from Russian undersea threats.

Jobs and British industry

The government presented the deal as support for British business as well as for defence. Ocean Infinity Solutions is based in Hampshire, and the government said the framework would support almost 200 new skilled jobs and its immediate supply chain.

The Ministry of Defence said the investment built on the 38,700 jobs in South East England directly supported by defence spending with industry. The government has described defence as an engine for growth, and the Atlantic Net framework is part of that approach, backing a British company to deliver technology for the Royal Navy.