Military chief: Russian fleet could destroy our phone and web networks
BRITAIN’S economy and way of life are at ‘catastrophic’ risk from Russian submarine drones that can cut underwater cables, the head of the military warned last night.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach said the vital communication cables that ‘criss-cross the sea bed’ were vulnerable to Vladimir Putin’s forces.
There are fears Russia has the capability to tap, disrupt and even sever the underwater cables that link our internet and phone networks to the rest of the world. Many of those that serve Britain are in the Atlantic.
Sir Stuart said the Navy was now prioritising missions ‘to protect the sea lines of communication’ and prevent an attack that could wreak economic chaos.
‘There’s a new risk to our way of life, which is the vulnerability of the cables that criss-cross the sea beds,’ he warned. ‘Can you imagine a scenario where those cables are cut or disrupted which would immediately and potentially catastrophically affect both our economy and other ways of living. Therefore we must continue to develop our maritime forces with our allies to match and understand Russian fleet modernisation.’
Last month, Theresa May warned that Russia was meddling in elections and planting fake stories in the media in a bid to ‘weaponise information’ and sow discord in the West.
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute last night, Sir Stuart said that Russia was one of a number of alarming new threats facing Britain and called for the UK to beef up its modern defences. He warned the risk posed by vessels operating in the seas ‘packed with high explosives is not a theory or a movie story – it is a reality’.
The military chief made the comments in his final annual speech at the think tank as Chief of the Defence Staff before he moves to become Nato’s military committee chairman next year.
Sir Stuart said: ‘In response to the threat posed by the modernisation of the Russia Navy – both nuclear and conventional submarines and ships – we along with our Atlantic allies have prioritised missions and tasks in order to protect the sea lines of communication.’
Mr Putin is believed to have a Yantar-class ‘intelligence ship’ which carries two submarines capable of destroying cables or tapping them for information.
It is understood Russia could deploy submarines to sever communications cables spanning the world covertly. They could deploy divers from the submarines or drones armed with cutters or explosives.
Sir Stuart said the UK must continue to develop its maritime forces ‘to match Russian fleet modernisation’.
He said there must be a ‘total force’ for tackling cyber threats as the risk from information warfare emerges. He added: ‘The frequency of information warfare in all its manifestations, including fake news and cyber attacks, is now becoming better known.
‘It is simply true we must adapt and not with nostalgic sentimental ways. Therefore we must modernise.’
He also warned of threats, including advanced surface-toair missiles and electronic warfare being developed in Syria.
Sir Stuart’s comments came after Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said Russian submarine activity around Britain’s coast has increased tenfold in the past six years.
In 2015, defence chiefs had to ask the US for assistance after a suspected Russian submarine was seen off the Scottish coast.
The Ministry of Defence asked the US Navy to send out patrol aircraft to track the vessel because the UK had scrapped its own Nimrod maritime surveillance aircraft in 2010.
The US navy aircraft were deployed after a periscope was sighted in waters where British submarines would normally surface or submerge as they head into or out of Faslane naval base on the Clyde.
It was suggested a Russian submarine may have been trying to track one of Britain’s four Vanguard-class vessels.
A report by Rishi Sunak, a Conservative MP, published by the Policy Exchange think tank earlier this year, said the UK was vulnerable as an island nation and that undersea cables were often poorly protected and their locations publicly known.
‘Not a movie – it’s reality’