NATO is ratcheting up its guard against suspected attempts to sabotage underwater energy and data cables and pipelines that crisscross the Baltic Sea.

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.

Cables deep under the Baltic Sea keep getting damaged - here is what Nato is doing to protect them - Nato is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect cables and pipelines

The Nordic country has opened an investigation into the damage, just weeks after NATO stepped up its military presence in the area following a series of similar incidents.

ABOARD A FRENCH NAVY FLIGHT OVER THE BALTIC SEA, Jan 28, (AP): 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.

The alliance mounted its first coordinated response to a suspected sabotage campaign against critical infrastructure after another cable was severed in the Baltic Sea.

NATO officials are investigating damage discovered on Sunday to another undersea cable running across the Baltic Sea, this time a telecommunications link between NATO member states Sweden and Latvia.

Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.