Britain worried its undersea cables could be attacked

BRITAIN: Russia poses a threat to Britain’s internet access and trade because undersea communication cables are vulnerable to its navy, the head of the armed forces has warned.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach said yesterday the ‘‘modernised’’ Russian navy had the ability to disrupt transcontinental cables and that the UK had to bolster its own naval forces to counter the threat.

His warning comes amid a row over defence spending with sources pointing out that the UK has had no submarinehunting maritime patrol aircraft since 2010, while the number of ships and submarines which could also protect the cables have fallen too.

Peach gave the speech only days after a think tank said an attack on the cables would deal a ‘‘crippling blow’’ to security and commerce and the ‘‘threat is nothing short of existential’’.

Yesterday a former head of the navy said Britain was unable to fully protect fibre optic cables carrying the digital lifeblood of the internet, because its anti-submarine warfare forces had been neglected.

Peach‘s warning came as the Ministry of Defence is lobbying the Treasury for more money it says is needed to stave off defence cuts.

He told the Royal United Services Institute that the modernisation of the Russian fleet was forcing Nato to do more to protect sea lines of communication.

Around 97 per cent of global communications from the UK are transmitted through cables laid on the sea bed, but they are ‘‘uniquely vulnerable’’ to sabotage, according to a Policy Exchange report written by Rishi Sunak MP. They transmit an estimated £7 trillion in daily financial transactions.

Some of the busiest connections cross the Atlantic and come ashore at remote locations in the UK. But the cables often have ‘‘minimal protection’’ and are at increasing risk from Russian naval activity or terrorism, the report says.

Both sides tried to monitor and tap into undersea cables during the Cold War, using specialist subs and ships.

Cables have again become an area of Russian focus in recent years, Lord West of Spithead said, but defence cuts had left Britain lacking the forces to protect the cables.

He said: ‘‘The bottom line is it will need extra resources put in there. It’s something that we have been worried about for some time.

‘‘We were aware of the Soviet focus on it and Russia has become more into it recently.

‘‘We can do some things about it, but not enough because our anti-submarine warfare capability has been seriously neglected.

‘‘The anti-submarine warfare package has been underfunded and has not been looked after well enough.’’ – Telegraph Group

"We can do some things about it [cable cutting], but not enough because our antisubmarine warfare capability has been seriously neglected."

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Chief of the UK Defence Staff