- A parliamentary committee says the UK’s undersea cable network could be critically damaged in a coordinated attack or sabotage.
- Many vital cables are remote, exposed to both accidental damage and possible hostile activity by state and non-state actors.
- Urgent recommendations include enhancing surveillance, legal deterrents, and having a dedicated repair vessel.
The UK Parliament is raising the red flag over the country’s ability to protect its critical but vulnerable undersea infrastructures from potential attacks by Russia, warning that the government is “too timid” in defending the assets, reports Marine Insight.
Deep Backbone, Serious Risks
Undersea fibre-optic cables form the unseen backbone of the global internet. Nearly all international data—financial transactions, cloud services, government and defence communications—relies on cables that run under the seas. The UK is connected by around 60 such cables which link it to other countries. Although a single cable fault can often be worked around, multiple failures in crisis conditions could bring serious disruption.
Cables are long, remote, hard to monitor, and therefore exposed to risks—from anchoring ships and fishing boats accidentally damaging them, to adversaries deliberately targeting them. With rising geopolitical tensions, reports warn that states such as Russia and China are developing “grey zone” capabilities (neither war nor peace) to interfere with undersea infrastructure.
Government Response & Capabilities
A cross-party Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy has raised concerns that the UK is underprepared. The Committee finds that current monitoring, legal protections and response plans lag behind the threats. On one hand, infrastructure industry participants have maintained resilience against routine damage. On the other, there is a lack of confidence in the ability to prevent or recover quickly from a deliberate, large-scale attack.
Part of the issue is that conventional protection tends to focus on risks like fishing or accidental anchor damage. But more recently, intelligence and reports suggest loitering of foreign vessels mapping seabed assets, suspicious activity around cable landing points, and the evolution of new underwater tools (such as unmanned or remote-controlled vehicles) capable of sabotaging cables.
Key Recommendations
The report lays out a series of recommendations to reduce vulnerability and improve robustness:
- Strengthen physical protection of cable landing points and restrict risky marine activity (anchoring, trawl fishing) around critical areas.
- Improve surveillance and detection, such as deploying sensors, better maritime radar/radar mapping, and unmanned underwater systems.
- Raise legal and deterrence measures so malicious actors face tangible consequences.
- Build redundancy and faster repair capability, including securing a UK-flagged cable repair ship so response in a crisis isn’t delayed by dependence on foreign vessels.
- Strategic coordination across government, private sector (telecom, data centres), military, and international partners.
The UK has important digital lifelines running under the sea. While ordinary wear-and-tear or accidental damage have long been accepted risks, the rise of deliberate sabotage as a real threat demands greater preparation. The report makes it clear: the time for complacency is over. If the country is to safeguard its internet, defence, and economy, investment in protection, surveillance, legal framework, and rapid response must be stepped up now.
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Source: Marine Insight
