The Cyber Hub Guiding UK Flagship Through Perilous Waters
At the British military’s cyber headquarters in Wiltshire there is one critical task on everyone’s minds: ensuring the safety of Carrier Strike Group 2025.
This week, HMS Prince of Wales transits through the Bab-el-Mandeb in the Red Sea – the most perilous passage it will undertake on its eight-month mission. John Healey, the Defence Secretary, is all too aware of the dangers facing the £3 billion aircraft carrier and its group of support vessels.
The area has suffered sustained Houthi attacks for over a year with the Royal Navy actively involved.
Meeting members of the Royal Navy, who are based at MoD Corsham, the UK’s military cyber HQ, Mr Healey spoke with personnel who are monitoring Operation Highmast, as it is known, around the clock to ensure its safety.
In a room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that overlook huge digital boards covered with information pertaining to the movements of the strike group (CSG), Mr Healey asked those gathered: “What preparations did you do to make sure they were secure before going into this area?”
It was explained they had “gameplanned situations” to ensure they felt confident with a number of scenarios should the group encounter any trouble with the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Mr Healey took his hat off to their efforts, saying work in the cyber field was all the more important because “we don’t see it”.
“We have to protect CSG in the next few days,” Mr Healey told one sailor. It will be a really dangerous high-risk passage”, he said, adding that he was aware the 2,100 British military personnel involved in the mission were being “digitally protected”.
One important element of this is keeping an eye on phishing campaigns, which can happen at sea because personnel are connected to the internet.
When asked by The Telegraph if he was concerned about the threats CSG might encounter, Mr Healey said: “The Carrier Strike Group is in a high risk area. We know that, they know that, they are fully trained for that and they are as well prepared and well protected as they can be, physically, militarily and digitally and in cyber.”
A senior defence source involved in operations at MoD Corsham warned: “Houthis are well resourced by Iranians. They have offensive cyber capability.”
When CSG set sail for the Indo-Pacific from Portsmouth last month, Commodore James Blackmore, in charge of the group, told The Telegraph he was ready to undertake any route required and would engage in active combat in the Red Sea if required. “That’s what a Carrier Strike Group does, that focus on that middle word, ‘strike’,” he said.
“I know I’ve got to transit through the Red Sea. I’m acutely aware of the dynamics that are associated with the Red Sea at the moment. I am always prepared and ready to not only defend myself but also any stage in this deployment if I am asked to undertake combat operations, I am absolutely ready.”
From a practical point of view, those working at MoD Corsham are also on-call to help if something goes wrong. “If something breaks down on the ship, we get notified and fix it here,” one naval officer said.
On the walls on either side of the digital boards mapping the strike group’s movements, clocks dedicated to telling the time of Op Highmast tick away.
Men and women in dark blue Navy uniforms circulate the floor, but there are also many in civilian clothing, some sipping Monster energy drinks as they hunch over computers – staff no doubt brought in for their cyber expertise, something the MoD is actively recruiting for.
Earlier this year, the MoD announced that military recruits will be fast-tracked into specialist roles to tackle the growing cyber threat to the UK through the Cyber Direct Entry programme.
They were told that not only would starting salaries begin over £40,000, with potential for up to £25,000 in additional skills pay, but that there was no requirement to serve in dangerous environments or handle weapons.
The days when all British military personnel were hyper-fit and able to handle weapons are being left behind as cyber dominates the landscape.
As part of the highly anticipated Strategic Defence Review, which will be published on Monday, the digital realm will be put front and centre as the MoD seeks to explain how defence will look over the next decade.
A senior defence source from MoD Corsham explained the importance of developing AI systems for the front line. He stressed they would not seek to replace traditional weapons systems such as tanks and aircraft, but complement them.
“At the moment we put people into places without all the information which would give them the greatest advantage on the battlefield,” he said. “Our approach around cyber will make sure all of them are fully integrated with wider operations. It’s not about cyber winning the war. It’s how cyber is a multiplier in the other domains.”
The passage of Britain’s flagship carrier will be a crucial test in Britain’s ability to compete on the battlefield of the future.