During Exercise Bold Machina 24, NATO Special Forces divers test underwater sensors that may be used to protect Critical Underwater Infrastructure (CUI) in the future.
Held in La Spezia, Italy, and co-hosted by Allied Special Forces Command (SOFCOM) and NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), the Exercise Bold Machina 24 gathered dive teams from 13 nations and challenged them to sneak past a variety of industry-developed detection systems in a “man-versus-machine” challenge. Scientists from CMRE also showcased AI detection systems and virtual reality tools designed to identify and respond to suspicious undersea activity.
Footage from the competition includes divers and detection systems, as well as interviews with US Captain Kurt Muhler from SOFCOM Maritime Development Division, Lieutenant Commander George Kalinoc from the Bulgarian Maritime Special Forces, and Alberto Tremori, a scientist at CMRE.
SCRIPT
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – THE NATO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION CENTRE FOR MARITIME RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION (CMRE)
(00:12) VARIOUS SHOTS – ENGINEERS RECOVER AN UNMANNED UNDERWATER VEHICLE (UUV) FROM THE WATER
(00:27) WIDE SHOT – BOAT IN THE CMRE HARBOUR
(00:35) VARIOUS SHOTS – DIVERS TEST THEIR NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT
(00:45) SLOW MO SHOT – A SPECIAL FORCES DIVER TRAVELS TO THE EXERCISE AREA BY BOAT
(00:49) VARIOUS SHOTS – DIVERS SUIT UP
(01:30) SLOW MO SHOT – MEDIUM SHOT OF A DIVER
(01:38) MEDIUM SINGLE – A DIVER ADJUSTS THEIR MASK
(01:43) ACTION SHOT – A RIB TRAILS THE DIVE BOAT
(01:47) VARIOUS SHOTS – DIVERS PREPARE TO ENTER THE WATER
(02:13) VARIOUS SHOTS – DIVERS JUMP OFF THE BOAT
(02:27) SLOW MO SHOTS – DIVERS JUMP OFF THE BOAT
(02:50) WIDE SHOT – TWO DIVERS ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER
(02:57) VARIOUS GO PRO SHOTS – DIVERS UNDERWATER
(03:21) SLOW MO SHOT – TWO DIVERS BREACH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER HOLDING ASSAULT RIFLES
(03:35) GO PRO SHOT – DIVERS REACH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER
(03:45) VARIOUS SLOW MO SHOTS – DIVERS BREACH THE SURFACE, AS SEEN FROM ABOVE
(04:03) SLOW MO SHOT – A DIVER EXITS THE WATER
(04:10) SLOW MO SHOT – WATER DRIPS FROM A DIVER
(04:17) VARIOUS SLOW MO SHOTS – DIVERS ON LAND RETURNING TO BASE, DRIPPING WITH WATER
(04:35) VARIOUS SLOW MO SHOTS – DIVERS CLEAN THEIR EQUIPMENT WITH A HOSE
(04:46) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN KURT MUHLER, SOFCOM MARITIME DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
“This is the first iteration of Bold Machina. We are putting NATO SOF divers in the water against evolving emerging technology to evaluate our signature management, but also to test and validate the technology that is going to be in place that contributes to the protection of Critical Undersea Infrastructure.”
(05:12) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN KURT MUHLER, SOFCOM MARITIME DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
“So for maritime special operations forces, it’s important for us to be on this evolutionary journey with technology. Because as the technology evolves, our assumption is that it will proliferate, changing the virtual transparency of the water column. So, whereas in the past we’ve always assumed that our last location of cover and concealment could be that water column, in the future we want to be able to clearly articulate the risk to conducting a mission where the sea is filled with sensors and robots that will be able to identify and classify us. Conversely, we also want to help improve and validate the technology that is going to be employed, to improve our maritime domain awareness from the seafloor to space, while at the same time protecting the Critical Undersea Infrastructure that our nations rely on.”
(06:15) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN KURT MUHLER, SOFCOM MARITIME DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
“I think the nations that are participating, they get a keener understanding of how technology is emerging, and it will change our operating environment. So, the tangible benefit that they get is, through NATO, we're able to organise this event, bring industry together, bring the technical expertise that the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation - that is inherent to that organisation, the scientists and engineers - we can bring them all together in a single space and do collaborative design of an experiment and be able to analyse the results and then deliver those back to the NATO Maritime Special Operations Forces.”
(07:05) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) CAPTAIN KURT MUHLER, SOFCOM MARITIME DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
“In regard to conflict, it’s some of what is going on inside the Ukrainian, you know, theatre of conflict. But also just as important is what’s going on outside of it. And related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we had the Baltic Connector and the Nord Stream Pipeline, the Baltic Connector Pipeline that were, one was blown up and one was destroyed by an anchor. And it exposed vulnerabilities that our nations have, especially the ones that rely on global trade over the sea. So that political relevance to that problem set has directed attention to the NATO organisation and our nations to develop a response and to develop an understanding of that response. And that’s the role this office is helping to play, is to help validate and improve that technology that’s going to support finding those answers.”
(08:14) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COMMANDER GEORGE KALINOV, BULGARIAN MARITIME SPECIAL FORCES
“Orientation underwater is a really complicated process. And you have to be a very disciplined soldier and mentally stable. It's not for everyone. All the small compartments in the submarine, for example, or ship platforms. It's not for everybody. That's some of the things that make us unique. We can be on the ships. We can be on the submarines, on the planes, helicopters, of course, in the land, forests. So we got to be good in all these areas, especially water.”
(08:58) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) LIEUTENANT COMMANDER GEORGE KALINOV, BULGARIAN MARITIME SPECIAL FORCES
“Well, being underwater, you really got to be concentrated. Think about the job and nothing else. You are thinking about the guy with you, your buddy, your partner, which is a critical part. You always rely on each other. So it's really important to know the person, to know the gear, to know the job, the task and all the risks with the diving.”
(09:26) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ALBERTO TREMORI, SCIENTIST AT THE NATO STO CMRE
“On the seafloor there are kilometers of pipes and tubes that are exposed to any kind of threat. And I mean, I don't think we need to remind you of the examples, the recent examples in the Baltic. They raise an immediate issue, but we realise that that's an issue: how important they are and how fragile and how exposed to any kind of possible threat. I mean, the underwater domain is hard both to protect and hard to attack but there are the technologies to operate, of course. And it’s not easy to protect because it's a complex environment. It's a vast environment.”
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