Page 17: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2022)

The 2017 paper “Undersea Cables In- dispensable, insecure,” by Rishi Sunak, a member of Parliament, and published by the British think Tank Policy Exchange, states that the world is totally dependent on the half-million-mile undersea net- work. But as dependency rises, so do the

Photo courtesy US Navy security challenges. “Funneled through exposed choke

CS Global Sentinel is operated for the U.S. Navy by Transoceanic Cable Ship.

points (often with minimal protection) and their isolated deep-sea locations en- tirely public, the arteries upon which the

Internet and our modern world depends have been left highly vulnerable,” Sunak wrote. “Whether from terrorist activity or an increasingly bellicose Russian na- val presence, the threat of these vulner- abilities being exploited is growing. A successful attack would deal a crippling blow to Britain’s security and prosperity.

The threat is nothing short of existential.

Working with global partners it is cru- cial that we act now to protect against these dangers, ensuring that our century’s greatest innovation does not also become its undoing.”

A number of nations have the techni- cal means of locating and compromising underwater cables. Physical intervention can be accomplished by manned or un- manned submersibles, or remotely oper- ated drones, similar to those use to build and maintain underwater infrastructure for the oil and gas industry. Both the U.S. and Russia have trained marine mammals that could be used to ? nd or act upon un- dersea cables. Russia has a number of as- sets that can be dedicated to the task of disrupting undersea networks, including its research ship Yantar and her deep-div- ing vehicles, ostensibly used for science, but often seen operating above known “PURPOSE BUILT CABLES FOR undersea cables. Seabed warfare—both

DEMANDING APPLICATIONS” defensive and offensive--is now a thing.

It becomes a national priority and mili-

Established in 1957, we design, test and produce Electro tary necessity to protect undersea cable

Optical Mechanical Cables withstanding the harshest of networks, and have the ability to exploit those used by adversaries. Cutting inter- environments. Our cables support a wide range of ocean continental communications by an adver- applications; from Towed Arrays to Side Scan Sonar’s, sary could be a fait accompli before any-

ROV Tethers and Umbilicals to Seismic Lead-in’s and one knew it was happening. The impact

MUX BOP Control cables.

on people and markets would be imme- diate and potentially catastrophic. Those

Idyllwild, CA 92549 USA • Ph: (951) 659-2183 • Fax: (951) 659-3958 cables may be out of sight. But they must [email protected] • http://www.southbaycable.com not be out of mind.

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