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Britain to invest £90 million in drones, sensors to counter Russian undersea threats

Reuters

LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - ‌Britain said on Tuesday it would spend £90 million ($121 million) ​on drones, ‌sensors and artificial intelligence systems ‌to help the Royal Navy counter Russian undersea threats in the ‌North Atlantic and protect critical infrastructure.

• New network of autonomous systems equipped with advanced sensors will create a ⁠unified surveillance capability to improve ‌the detection and monitoring ⁠of submarine activity

• Western officials have ​warned Russia has increased activity around subsea infrastructure

• In April, ​Britain said it had deployed ​military ‌vessels to deter Russian submarines who it ​said had spent more ⁠than a month in ‌and around British ​waters, warning Moscow ​that any attempt to damage cables or pipelines would have "serious consequences"

• Russia has denied the allegations

• NATO ‌allies have strengthened surveillance of cables and pipelines in recent years

• ‌Undersea ​cables carry most global internet traffic and support financial transactions

($1 = 0.7437 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Sam ‌Tabahriti; editing by Yoruk Bahceli)