NATO is experimenting a number of unmanned systems in the Baltic Sea as part of Task Force X. This initiative enhances the Alliance’s maritime security posture, improving situational awareness, strengthening surveillance, and protecting critical undersea infrastructure…
NATO Allied Command Transformation press release
From foresight to warfight: NATO’s Task Force X leads maritime innovation. This fleet of high-tech maritime systems is a tangible example of how NATO transforms innovation into operational advantage, turning emerging technology into strategic capability. By seamlessly combining unmanned and crewed systems, it reduces costs, closes surveillance gaps, and enables timely decision-making in complex maritime environments.
Building on the momentum of successful national programs like the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 66, NATO launched Task Force X in early 2025 to accelerate the integration of autonomous systems and AI into naval operations.
Led by NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT), in cooperation with stakeholders from the Baltic nations, NATO – Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), NATO Maritime Command, NATO Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS), Commander Task Force Baltic, this initiative enhances the Alliance’s maritime security posture, improving situational awareness, strengthening surveillance, and protecting critical undersea infrastructure, particularly in the Baltic Sea region.
Three uncrewed capabilities are at the heart of Task Force X:
- Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (USV) – Extend NATO’s maritime reach, deliver real-time surveillance, and free up manned assets to respond to dynamic taskings.
- Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (UUV) – Silently patrol beneath the waves, detecting mines and submarines, and defending undersea cables and pipelines.
- Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) – Provide persistent surveillance from above, detect threats early, and help secure ports, sea lanes, and critical infrastructure.
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Naval News comment:
Launched by NATO in the first weeks of 2025, Operation Baltic Sentry has since mobilized “a small fleet of naval drones” for experimental purposes. Task Force X is expected to expand in the coming months and eventually become operational.
Baltic Sentry is the operation launched by NATO to improve its response capacity to acts of destabilization in the Baltic Sea. Commanded by Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS) and Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), the effort serves as a laboratory for deploying new technologies, including naval surveillance drones.
Task Force X was created at the same time as Baltic Sentry. For the initial phase, “we launched calls for tenders within the ACT at the Helsinki Summit on January 14,” announced the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), French Admiral Pierre Vandier. Results: Four first naval drones were selected for initial missions in the Baltic Sea last March.
“That is to say, we put ships in the water in a month and a half,” SACT declared at a press briefing held on the sidelines of the Paris Defence and Security Forum. Initial experiments are underway, with the aim of “verifying that we are capable of retrieving data streams and running them in clouds in connection with warning systems.”
For the second phase, NATO works on around twenty platforms and more solutions to test its capacity to handle increased flows.
“This has met with immense interest because I now have 70 manufacturers who have responded to the ACT call for tenders,” stated SACT. Around fifteen million euros have been invested. Some 22 nations have responded and “offered to take part in this experiment,” added Admiral Pierre Vandier.
“We observe what’s happening and we can determine that something is happening.” Operated by MARCOM, the drones produce data that is then retrieved and used to refine situational awareness and improve the responsiveness of the vessels deployed for Baltic Sentry.
