Britain will acquire two specialist ships to protect underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, British defence minister Ben Wallace said.
"It should remind us all how fragile our economy and infrastructure is to such to such hybrid attacks ... Our internet and our energy are highly reliant on pipelines and cables," Wallace said, speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, central England. "I can announce we have recently committed to two specialist ships with the capability to keep our cables and pipelines safe."
Wallace said the first "multi-role survey ship for seabed warfare" would be bought this year and would be operational by the end of next year, while the second ship would be built in the United Kingdom.
