With its powerful camera, the French Navy surveillance plane scouring the Baltic Sea zoomed in on a cargo ship plowing the waters below — closer, closer and closer still until the camera operator could make out details on the vessel's front deck and smoke pouring from its chimney.

After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

NATO is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect cables and pipelines that stitch together the nine countries with Baltic shores.

NATO ships and aircraft have responded to the damage of an underwater cable in the Baltic Sea, informed NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM) spokesperson, Arlo Abrahamson. NATO Maritime Command spokesperson Arlo Abrahamson conveyed that NATO ships and planes reacted to the events in the Baltic Sea,