The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the purchase of two Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance ships to protect the UK’s critical national undersea infrastructure has been brought forward.

The two Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) ships will be operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and will be tasked with protecting subsea cables and pipelines. The first of these ships will be handed over in January 2023, several months ahead of schedule.

“The increasing commercialisation of the seabed for energy and communications purposes has resulted in increased opportunities for adversaries to hold Western subsea critical national infrastructure at risk. The vessels will be adaptable, and able to provide a range of capabilities, such as operating remote and autonomous offboard systems for underwater surveillance and seabed warfare.”

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