NATO has successfully created and demonstrated an operational prototype to enhance the security of critical undersea infrastructure. “Mainsail” provides comprehensive Seabed-to-Space Situational Awareness for NATO and NATO Allies.
Mainsail introduces a state-of-the-art cloud-based data exploitation environment, empowering data scientists, engineers, and analysts to perform patterns-of-life analysis using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. These algorithms address the ever-changing threat landscape, ensuring robust and adaptive security measures.
Mainsail analyzes vast amounts of data from diverse sources, including satellite imagery, sonar systems, and underwater sensors. The comprehensive data fusion provides a real-time, 360-degree view of maritime activity, enabling NATO to:
- Detect and Track Threats: Identify and track suspicious vessels, pinpoint potential threats to undersea infrastructure, and predict future actions.
- Enhance Situational Awareness: Gain a deeper understanding of the maritime environment, enabling faster and more informed decision-making.
- Improve Response Capabilities: Rapidly respond to emerging threats, such as sabotage attempts, intrusions, and cyberattacks.
This project resulted from close collaboration between NATO Allied Command Transformation, NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation, NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, specifically the NATO Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure, showcasing the importance of innovation within the Alliance.
Mainsail represents the start of a significant leap forward in how we use big data and AI to better understand our operating environment. NATO’s Allied Command Transformation has been instrumental in getting the project to its current state. By pairing us with the software developers and data scientists from the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation, ACT’s Innovation Branch created a powerful team and the results from just a few months of development are remarkable. But it doesn’t stop here either: ACT’s SHINE event allowed us to see first-hand how mainsail could be integrated with other capabilities in the future and so all communities engaged in real-time situational awareness and the detection of suspicious activities should benefit from this invaluable tool.
– Lt Cdr Grant Bentley, Royal Navy,
NATO Maritime Centre for Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure,
Allied Maritime Command
PURPOSE
The name “Mainsail,” derived from “Multi-Domain Awareness and Insight with AI Layering,” aptly reflects the platform’s core function: to provide comprehensive situational awareness across the maritime domain.
This project, driven by an agile methodology and a strong focus on user needs, demonstrates Allied Command Transformation’s commitment to developing and implementing cutting-edge technologies to address evolving security challenges.
By leveraging Mainsail, NATO can enhance its ability to:
- Maintain maritime dominance: Safeguard critical undersea infrastructure, including vital communication cables and energy pipelines.
- Deter aggression: Project power and deter potential adversaries from exploiting vulnerabilities in the undersea domain.
- Ensure freedom of navigation: Safeguard freedom of navigation and commerce in international waters.
DEMONSTRATION
In October 2024, the culminating event of NATO Allied Command Transformation’s Innovation Continuum, SHINE, provided a platform to showcase Mainsail’s capabilities.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Mainsail exemplifies NATO’s commitment to technological innovation and its unwavering focus on maintaining a strong and resilient defence. By leveraging advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Mainsail sets a new benchmark for maritime situational awareness. This platform empowers NATO with the critical intelligence necessary to safeguard critical infrastructure, deter aggression, and ensure freedom of navigation in the ever-evolving maritime domain.
