// TOM'S HARDWARE US — HARDWARE & GADGET
US Marines join NATO mission in the Baltic Sea to protect undersea cables from sabotage as Russia continues to lurk
The U.S. military is supporting a NATO mission to protect European undersea infrastructure
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
A team of around four dozen U.S. Marines is joining a NATO-led operation in the Baltic Sea to help protect undersea internet cables and gas pipelines in the area. In a press release, the U.S. Marine Corps shared its plans to deploy a "specialized team" to support NATO's Enhanced Vigilance Activity Baltic Sentry operation. The move comes amid a backdrop of growing undersea cable interest, movements of Russia's shadow fleet, and fears of sabotage.
The U.S. Marines are being sent from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to provide "advanced expeditionary surveillance and tactical reconnaissance capabilities" to the region in support of Finnish and other NATO allies. Marines from 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, and the II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group are joining the mission.
Capt. Johan Tillander, Chief of Operations for the Finnish Navy, explained that the "experience, skills, and systems of the U.S. Marine Corps are perfectly suited" for the operation, including "monitoring of the Baltic Sea."
While the press release stresses that the Marines are serving in a "supportive, enabling capacity," with European nations taking the lead, the Marines are there to provide "highly specialized, agile force multipliers."
Maj. Gen. Daniel Shipley, Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe and Africa, shared that its participation shows its ability to "rapidly project specialized capabilities where they are most effective," and as a result, "ensuring we can operate seamlessly as a cohesive, lethal team to deter hybrid threats" in the area.
The U.S. deployment means that the operation will be able to "leverage... unique capabilities of Reconnaissance Marines, including small Unmanned Aerial Systems and littoral sensors, to feed vital data directly" to NATO.
The Baltic Sea is the frontline in potential assaults against European undersea infrastructure. Several attempts have been made to sabotage cables in the area, and two cables were cut between Finland, Sweden and Europe back in 2024. Meanwhile, Finland's own concerns about shadow fleet operations led it to set up a dedicated maritime surveillance center earlier this year to monitor activity in the Baltic Sea.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.