The UK will use AI to detect hostile state activity in the Arctic in a bid to safeguard national security.

Foreign secretary David Lammy made the announcement on a visit to the Artic, where he saw how British and Norwegian ships jointly patrol the high seas of the Arctic to detect, deter and manage increasingly sophisticated subsea threats to energy, critical national infrastructure, and security posed by Russia’s Northern Fleet.

There will be a new UK-Iceland scheme to use cutting edge AI technology to monitor hostile activity in the region.

Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said: "The Arctic is becoming an increasingly important frontier for geopolitical competition and trade, and a key flank for European and UK security.

"We cannot bolster the UK’s defence and deliver the Plan for Change without greater security in the Arctic. This is a region where Russia’s shadowfleet operates, threatening critical infrastructure like undersea cables to the UK and Europe, and helping fund Russia’s aggressive activity.

"It’s more important than ever that we work with our allies in the High North, like Norway and Iceland, to enhance our ability to patrol and protect these waters. That’s why we have today announced new UK funding to work more closely with Iceland, using AI to bolster our ability to monitor and detect hostile state activity in the Arctic."