Britain fears Russia could cut undersea communication cables

Britain's military fears if the undersea cables from Russia were cut or disrupted, there would be an immediate and potentially catastrophic hit to the economy.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach has said the vulnerability of communication lines under the sea posed a "new risk to our way of life" even as Russia modernises its navy and perfects unconventional and information warfare, mirror.co.uk reported.

"In response to the threat posed by the modernisation of the Russian navy, both nuclear and conventional submarines and ships, we along with our Atlantic allies have prioritised missions and tasks to protect the sea lines of communication. This sounds like a re-run of old missions, actually as I'm about to say, it is very, very important that we understand how important that mission is for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). Because Russia in addition to new ships and submarines continues to perfect both unconventional capabilities and information warfare," the chief of defence staff said, in his annual lecture to the Royal United Services Institute in Whitehall.

He added, "And there is a new risk to our way of life, which is the vulnerability of the cables that criss-cross the seabeds. 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 if they were disrupted? Therefore we must continue to develop our maritime forces with our allies, with whom we are working very closely, to match and understand Russian fleet modernisation."

In a wide-ranging speech, Sir Stuart also called for a return of the Army's now-defunct railway squadron amid the threat to Western military technology of "anti-area access denial".

Conservative MP Rishi Sunak had also, earlier this month, warned that a successful attack on the UK's network of undersea communications cables could deal a "crippling blow" to the country's security and economy.