On Monday 13 May, in partnership with the Royal Navy and NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, RUSI hosted the NATO Allied Maritime Power at 75 Conference. This event celebrated the Alliance’s 75th anniversary and explored present and emerging challenges to maritime security.
Speakers and delegates focused on the role of carrier strike, submarines and amphibious power projection as key enablers for the Alliance’s deterrence and defence. Sessions explored NATO’s current planning and defence posture, the strategic challenges in the Alliance’s seas, and the potential impact of new technology.
Opening the conference, Vice Admiral Didier Maleterre, French Navy, Deputy Commander Allied Maritime Command, said:
For the first time in 20 years NATO’s standing naval forces have operated with full complements, reflecting the Alliance’s renewed focus on deterrence. It is important to maintain links with partners outside the alliance, given the geographical scope of NATO’s key sea lines of communication.
Vice Admiral Didier Maleterre, French Navy, Deputy Commander Allied Maritime Command
Closing the conference, Admiral Sir Ben Key, First Sea Lord, noted:
The Euro-Atlantic area is sustained by an intricate and easily disrupted web of undersea infrastructure ranging from the cables through which 97% of all internet data passes to the gas pipelines on which our energy security partially depends. This infrastructure will need to be secured against a threat spectrum that ranges from sophisticated deep-diving submarines to quasi-civilian vessels with complex ownership structures which can conduct sabotage in deniable ways. Campaigning against these threats will be a persistent task which will require the coordination of both our militaries and our wider maritime enterprises.
Admiral Sir Ben Key, First Sea Lord