Maritime defence in the Mediterranean faces challenges from vulnerable land power
The French Navy’s Aquitaine-class frigate Provence was the first to receive the experimental DHE architecture two years ago. (Photo: US Navy)
As an indispensable energy crossroads, the Mediterranean is at serious risk from grey zone disruption. As navies increasingly employ AI data centres, what happens when cutting-edge defence technologies rely on the very infrastructure most susceptible to hybrid tactics?
The importance of resilience in civilian, military and critical infrastructure frameworks during times of increasing uncertainty was a key topic that came up at the SHADE MED conference held in November by EUNAVFOR MED Irini — the EU’s military operation in the Central Mediterranean — and NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM). The theme of the event, which is in its 14th year, was “The Mediterranean Space: A Pillar of Global Security.”
The prominence of this topic was hardly surprising: resilience has shaped the war in Ukraine, and every defence forum in recent years now anchors itself to the concept.
In the Mediterranean, that resilience translates
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