Could a Submarine Sever Global Internet Communications? One Was Just Caught While Surfaced Near Undersea Cable Hub
In September, the French frigate Normandie, in coordination with naval forces of NATO allies such as Spain and the United Kingdom, escorted a Russian submarine and its accompanying tugboat through the Bay of Biscay. The…
In September, the French frigate Normandie, in coordination with naval forces of NATO allies such as Spain and the United Kingdom, escorted a Russian submarine and its accompanying tugboat through the Bay of Biscay.
The question, of course, is: What was the Russian submarine doing there in the first place?
We can only speculate, but there are some pretty solid grounds for speculation.
We know, for example, that Russian submarines have been training to severe underwater cables since at least 1970 — over 50 years.
In fact, the Russian November-class K-8 submarine sank in those very waters, the Bay of Biscay, during naval War games that assigned that very mission to her, according to The National Interest.
We also know that, although satellite communication and other, more recent technologies (the first transatlantic cable was laid in 1858) carry some important international communications, the backbone of global connection — CNN called it “the invisible force driving the modern Internet” — remains the underwater cable.