Undersea Hybrid Threats in Strategic Competition: The Emerging Domain of NATO–EU Defense Cooperation
Pub. online: 21 November 2024
Type: Research Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
27 June 2024
27 June 2024
Accepted
11 October 2024
11 October 2024
Published
21 November 2024
21 November 2024
Abstract
This article explains the importance of the underwater critical infrastructure as a domain of hybrid warfare operations and the setting for increasing strategic competition. In addition, the article highlights the growing need for NATO and European Union (EU) defense cooperation in this area, particularly to respond to the strategic ambitions of the Russian Federation and its strategic partnership with China as revisionist powers. Taking a pragmatic case study approach, the article evaluates Russia’s current maritime doctrine and characteristic cases of undersea hybrid tactics with several operational examples of Russia’s undersea sabotage capabilities. This leads to outlining the emerging NATO–EU inter-organizational defense cooperation in protecting undersea infrastructure. The article concludes with policy advice that the Baltic states, as small open-to-sea member states, should take an active interest in the capability development of the undersea infrastructure protection in both NATO and EU formats.
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