The UK is considering deploying an army of AI-powered underwater drones to hunt Russian submarines in British waters.
These autonomous mini-submarines can remain submerged for months at a time.
In a new system called Lura, the drones effectively "illuminate" the oceans to simplify submarine detection.
Recent incidents in the Baltic Sea have seen damage to power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with many blamed on Moscow.
The Royal Navy are prepared to use an AI-powered underwater drone to hunt Russian submarinesGETTYDefence Secretary John Healey previously ordered a Royal Navy attack submarine to surface near a Russian spy ship detected "loitering" over critical British undersea infrastructure.
The Russian ambassador to the UK has not denied allegations that Russia has hidden sensors around British waters.
The Lura system, developed by European defence firm Helsing, uses what is described as a "constellation" of underwater sensors to analyse acoustic data.
The technology can distinguish between two ships of the same class by detecting subtle differences in their acoustic signatures.
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Lura has been designed for use on underwater gliders known as the SG-1 Fathom, which were originally developed for tracking whales and monitoring underwater conditions.
The system can reportedly identify differences between submarines, tankers, passenger vessels and members of Russia's shadow fleet.
Helsing developed Lura after being contracted by the Royal Navy to explore AI applications for monitoring acoustic signatures.
Co-founder of Helsing, Gundbert Scherf, told The Times: "Lura detects so our navies can deter.
Helsing developed Lura after being contracted by the Royal Navy
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"We must harness new technologies to keep pace with the threats against our critical infrastructure, national waters and way of life.
"Deploying AI to the edge of underwater constellations will illuminate the oceans and deter our adversaries."
Helsing's lead technology expert, Niall Cartwright, added: "When they hear something, a Russian submarine or something doing an unusual activity, they then pop up and report that back.
"One on its own can't do much, but the fact is they are so cheap and simple you can throw hundreds or thousands of these in the water. They [the enemy] will think twice about coming through."
