Wednesday, August 19, 2020

This Is How Russian Spy Submarines Can Interfere With Undersea Internet Cables

General pattern of operations based on previous instances. A) Nuclear-powered mini-sub working on the cable. B) Very large host submarine patrolling above, ready to retrieve mini-sub. C) Nuclear powered attack submarine performing over watch H I Sutton

Forbes: How Russian Spy Submarines Can Interfere With Undersea Internet Cables

America and the West’s dependency on undersea internet cables could be a strategic vulnerability. It is the consequence of both geography and the rise of the international digital economy. Russia, by comparison, doesn’t rely on the cables as much, and it has a substantial fleet of spy submarines designed to operate on them.

Russia’s ability to meddle with undersea cables has raised concerns on many occasions in recent years. Let’s look at which Russian Navy submarines may be involved and how they operate, based on previous incidents which are only now being spoken about.

During the Cold War the focus was military communication cables and sonar arrays laid on the sea floor. But today the ‘seabed warfare’ arena has been expanded to include the internet cables which crisscross the oceans. Around 99% of our transoceanic data traffic flows through undersea cables, including financial transactions, email, social media and of course military communications.

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WNU Editor: To me it is a given that in the event of a major war, all of these cables are going to be cut in multiple places.

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