Deep in the world’s oceans and seas lies a network of
submarine communication cables connecting continents and regions. This critical
infrastructure, owned mostly by international consortia of private
telecommunication companies, spans, in total, more than 1.3 million kilometers
and handles over 95% of the world’s data.
The
rise of projects like SpaceX’s Starlink and their use in the war in
Ukraine has increased the attention on satellites and space security. However,
submarine cables remain a crucial yet underappreciated part of the global
communications system. The widespread use of these cables by private
individuals, businesses, and government agencies makes their protection a
matter of national and international security.
As fighting rages on in Ukraine, the cables in the Black Sea
could be in danger of disruption. Accidents have caused damage to the
cables in the past, and stepped-up naval activity in the region
could raise the risk of vessels accidentally cutting the lines lying on the
seafloor.
Moreover, deliberate Russian attacks on these cables, either
through cyber operations or physical destruction, follow the Kremlin’s modus
operandi of targeting critical infrastructure to gain strategic advantage
without necessarily delivering decisive blows against its enemies.
To ensure regional security in the communication and data
spheres, Black Sea states must increase their emphasis on protecting submarine
cables, including within the format of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) or novel regional frameworks.
Unlike
the attacks on land-based power grids and energy pipelines, the threat to
submarine cables is still a hypothetical national security concern as no
definitive case of sabotage by a state actor has been confirmed thus far.
However, some defense officials, notably the chief of the
British Defense Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin, have begun to emphasize the
security implications of the cables’ vulnerabilities, especially in the context
of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia
has been investing in capabilities that would allow specialized submarines
to place explosives on the seafloor, physically endangering underwater
communication infrastructure. In addition to the Russian navy, the Main
Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) — known as Russia’s “Deep-Sea
Spetsnaz” — can undertake covert operations along the seabed.
NATO
officials suspect that GUGI has been increasingly focusing on undersea cable
networks in recent years. Notably, in January 2022, Norway detected damage to
one of two fiber optic cables off the Svalbard archipelago; suspicions that
the cable disruption may have been intentional grew later that year, after a
mysterious explosion crippled the underwater Nord Stream natural gas pipeline,
an incident that is still under investigation.
Skeptics argue that such concerns are exaggerated,
especially since companies that own these undersea networks have been
building redundancies to provide different data flow routes in case
of a disruption to one cable.
Of
the four Black Sea submarine cables, the only one physically connected to
the territories in conflict is the Kerch Strait Cable, which links the occupied
Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland. Not only is the cable owned
by Rostelecom — Russia’s largest telecom firm — but any disruption to
communications and internet in Ukraine through sabotage would affect Russian
forces on the ground as well.
The primary objective of such an attack on submarine cables
would be to create confusion and anxiety among the affected populations.
The Kremlin could also order sabotage operations on cable networks connected to
Ukraine’s allies in North America and Europe specifically
to exacerbate the growing war fatigue caused by high inflation and gas prices.
Other than the Kerch Strait Cable, Rostelecom also owns
the Georgia-Russia cable system in a joint venture with Georgian and
Danish companies. Stretching across the Black Sea, the Caucasus Cable
System, owned by Caucasus Online, connects Georgia and Bulgaria. In the west,
Türk Telekom International operates the Black Sea Fiber Optic System (KAFOS),
which has landing points in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania.
Yet a
multinational security apparatus — whether through NATO or a Black Sea regional
defense cooperative — is needed to help private companies successfully defend
existing systems and launch future projects. The war in Ukraine has
exposed NATO’s deficiencies in preventing and responding
appropriately to potential Russian sabotage operations on critical
infrastructure.
Measures
taken by private companies to implement redundancies to limit the impact of
individual disruptions will mitigate the risks of widespread internet
blackouts. And if NATO states invested more in the defense of these networks,
Russia would lose a potential point of leverage against the Alliance.
NATO defense ministers highlighted the importance
of identifying the threats posed to submarine infrastructure, particularly by
the Russian navy. As part of this effort to enhance security, NATO tasked Joint
Force Command Norfolk (JFC-NF) to monitor and protect these networks in
the Atlantic.
Introducing a similar mission concept to the Eastern
Mediterranean and Black Sea regions could be a productive step in ensuring the
security of NATO’s exposed southeastern flank. The next iteration of the Black
Sea Maritime Forum, first convened on February 25 of last year, could provide
the appropriate platform to advance this issue and discuss solutions among
Black Sea states with NATO involvement.
Regionally, coordinating strategic interests among the Black
Sea states, especially with NATO, has always been a challenge. Despite
Romania’s vocal support for an increased NATO presence in the region,
the lack of enthusiasm from Turkey and Bulgaria has hindered
progress toward sufficient Black Sea defense.
Turkey’s
hesitation may be because of its “middleman” approach to the competition
between Russia and the United States. Even as Russian aggression continually
destabilizes the Black Sea region, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
remains unwilling to fully commit to the West’s punitive stance against Moscow.
Turkey’s expanded trade relations with Russia, despite
increasing pressure from the US to abide by Western sanctions, and its foot
dragging on ratifying Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO, demonstrate
the country’s insistence on prioritizing its own security concerns, even at the
expense of hindering a united Euro-Atlantic front.
However, Turkey must not overlook the importance of securing
the critical infrastructure networks in the Black Sea, including submarine
communication cables, especially as one of them — KAFOS — has a landing point
in Istanbul, near the Bosporus Strait. Given Ankara’s interest in minimizing
the risk of escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian war, it should contribute to the
broader Black Sea region’s underwater domain awareness as well as monitor key
vulnerabilities that could be exploited or put at risk by a malign actor — whether
Moscow or anybody else.
Short of a wider North Atlantic Alliance mission, Turkey
should actively cooperate with other Black Sea states, including non-NATO
member Georgia, in pursuing their own regional security framework that would
include as its mission the protection of submarine cables in the Black Sea.