More than 99% of global data travels through submarine cables, and energy security depends on underwater pipelines. Disrupting this hidden infrastructure could halt billions in transactions and cut off entire nations' power.
Enter the autonomous-drone revolution. Fincantieri's Underwater Hub, led by Pierroberto Folgiero, is building the DEEP system: a seabed sensor barrier that detects threats, then deploys AI-powered drone swarms to identify and mitigate danger in real time.
Recent sabotage attempts-like the SeaJewel tanker incident off Savona-highlight why constant monitoring is critical. The market for underwater defense is now estimated at €50 billion annually.
Frontier technologies include Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which turns transoceanic cables into listening devices, and quantum magnetometers on drones that detect submarine hulls from tens of kilometers away.