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2w ago

AUKUS Moves to Shield Subsea Internet Cables With Unmanned Undersea Vehicles

The partners plan unmanned undersea vehicles with sensors to detect and deter attacks on the seabed that carry the bulk of international data.

Offshore electric cabling for the Walney Offshore windfarm project being loaded onto a cable laying vessel in the docks in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, UK.
Australia's Defense Minister Richard Marles speaks to the press in Singapore.
Operating crews of autonomous sea defense vehicles at the unveiling of the Atlantic Bastion program in Portsmouth, England last year.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley (DDG 84) and a MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 50, assemble in formation for exercise At-Sea Demonstration (ASD)/ Formidable Shield (FS) 2025, off the coast of the Shetland Islands, May 12, 2025. ASD/FS 25 is the largest at-sea live-fire exercise in the European theater, hosted by U.S. 6th Fleet and executed by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO. ASD/FS 25 is designed to enhance Allied interoperability in a joint, live-fire, Integrated Air and Missile Defense environment using NATO command and control reporting structures. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacquelin Frost)

Overview

  • The United States, United Kingdom and Australia announced a trilateral program to develop unmanned undersea vehicles and sensors to protect seabed cables and pipelines, with deliveries expected next year.
  • The UK has tightened criminal penalties for deliberate damage to undersea cables and reported tracking Russian submarines surveying North Atlantic cable routes.
  • Officials say attacks and suspicious activity against subsea infrastructure have risen sharply over the past 18 months, and a 2024 Red Sea incident showed how easily cables can be crippled by ship anchors or hostile action.
  • About 570 submarine fiber‑optic cables carry roughly 95 to 99 percent of intercontinental data and are mostly owned by private telecom and tech companies, making their protection crucial for banking, healthcare and cloud services.
  • Governments and NATO are combining naval patrols, undersea drones, sensors and limited satellite rerouting to build resilience, though experts warn satellites cannot match the capacity of fiber cables and chokepoints like the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz remain high risk.