![]() concerns about possible sabotage by China, the archenemy of the key U.S. Last month, two major submarine internet cables were cut to at least one of Taiwan's outlying islands, raising U.S. Six years after that report was published, Stavridis told USA TODAY, “I am more concerned now than I was in 2017 about the dangers of an attack on undersea cables.”Ĭhina versus Taiwan, Russia's suspected role in pipeline attack: The early stages of seabed warfare They are also tapping into the telecommunications cables as valuable sources of intelligence. − and its allies and adversaries − are focusing on this potential threat from an offensive as well as a defensive standpoint, according to Stavridis and other experts, including a U.S. … The threat is nothing short of existential,” according to the report itself, which was written by then-British parliamentarian Rishi Sunak, who is now the country’s prime minister. “Whether from terrorist activity or an increasingly bellicose Russian naval presence, the threat of these vulnerabilities being exploited is growing. and its allies, and their ability to transmit confidential information, conduct financial transactions and communicate internationally. Stavridis, who led the NATO alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander, warned that an all-out attack on undersea cable infrastructure would cause “potentially catastrophic” damage to the U.S. and allied government reports and officials.Ĭurrently, more than 95% of the traffic coursing through the global internet is carried by just 200 undersea fiber-optic cables, “some as far below the surface as Everest is above it,” Stavridis wrote in the forward to a 2017 report, “Undersea Cables: Indispensable, Insecure," which raised alarms about the extreme vulnerabilities of the seabed commercial networks. They are all extremely vulnerable to tampering or attack by hostile nations or terrorists, according to U.S. The ramping up of preparations for global seabed war comes at a time when oil and gas pipelines crisscross the ocean floor, and telecommunications cables that connect one continent to another are even more ubiquitous. It has become an especially urgent priority after last year’s suspected attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which have carried gas from Russia to Germany. ![]() This proposed successor to the USS Jimmy Carter – a nuclear-powered spy submarine filled with robots and specialized ships and divers – is just one of Washington’s secret initiatives aimed at protecting America’s commercial and security interests deep under the sea. Navy, that means building its most expensive spy submarine ever, a $5.1 billion high-tech vessel that would patrol the deepest reaches of the ocean and deploy mini-subs and drones that can battle hostile forces while withstanding the crushing pressure of the ocean depths. and its adversaries – especially Russia and China – are scrambling for dominance. The newest frontier for potential combat is the ocean floor, and the U.S. The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Illinois (SSN 786) conducts sea trials Aug.
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