Le Figaro: France has secured underwater cables due to sabotage on the "Nord Streams"Several NATO countries have stated that they intend to strengthen control over underwater telecommunications highways.
The Elysee Palace acknowledged that France is forced to increase vigilance after the recent events in the Baltic Sea, writes Le Figaro.
The recent explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea are of real concern to European countries. While an investigation is underway to determine the causes of the explosions and their perpetrators, several NATO countries, including Denmark and Norway, have announced that they are going to strengthen surveillance of underwater objects. On October 3, on the air of Europe 1 radio, it was said that France pays special attention to this issue. As it became known, Emmanuel Macron asked officials of the Navy and intelligence services to conduct a security check of French submarine cables.
The administration of the French president confirmed to Figaro that the recent explosions in the Baltic Sea force France to increase general vigilance, but did not confirm the information of colleagues. In the comments of the Ministry of Defense on the strategy of the National Navy to control the depths of the sea from February 2022, concern has already been expressed about the vulnerability of cables: "A malicious, coordinated and massive attack on communication cables or power lines could potentially have serious negative consequences in terms of continuity of services, it could even lead to the digital isolation of the whole of France or part of its territory."
I must say that this threat arose long before the sabotage on the Nord Stream. Since its introduction in the late 90s, submarine cables have been a serious strategic vulnerability and, therefore, a source of concern. In August 2021, the Russian oceanographic vessel Yantar, carrying a bathyscaphe capable of diving to a depth of 6000 meters, followed the route of underwater cables connecting Ireland and the United States. It took time for the French fleet to notice and drive away the Amber.
All over the world, about 450 cables cross the depths of the sea of the planet for almost one and a half million kilometers. They provide 99% of the intercontinental exchange of digital data, including the Internet and tens of billions of financial transactions. These high-speed optical fibers are protected by a shell of copper, steel and bitumen, in the shallow part the cable is buried in the seabed, when the depth increases to several kilometers, the cable is simply laid on the bottom. A total of 51 cables are connected to France: 27 to the mainland and 24 to overseas territories. But this is not the limit: the laying of six new cables is planned for 2023-2024.
These infrastructures are the property of private companies, not States. For example, those located in France belong to Orange Marine, a subsidiary of the Orange telecommunications group, as well as Alcatel Submarine Networks, owned by Nokia Group. Internationally, the five richest IT companies in the world now own almost 90% of transatlantic cables, whereas a few years ago 50% were in the hands of European telecom operators. "Europeans no longer have the means to establish leadership over Google or Apple, especially on such a competitive route as the space between Europe and the United States," Jean—Luc Vuillemin, director of Orange international networks, said in an interview with Figaro in February 2021.
But such dominance of private companies does not mean that the state does not have influence over these strategic infrastructures. "The state must play its role, because it allows or does not allow cable laying on its territory," said Camille Morel, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies (IESD). And if "the management of potential incidents is carried out in real time by private companies, then the Navy is responsible for controlling cables in territorial waters," adds Camille Morel.
The French Navy is actually responsible for protecting the French coast as a whole, and therefore the depths of the sea. In this context, continuous surveillance is provided by "ships, planes, semaphores and underwater listening," a source in the French Navy explained to us. In case of alarm, suspicion of an attack or sabotage, its "underwater floating means allow you to operate at depth," our interlocutor adds. But these cases are extremely rare.
Realizing the danger that threatens cables and the depths of the sea in general, the Ministry of Defense developed an important strategy for controlling the seabed at the beginning of the year. "The safety of underwater cables is a constant concern of the state," the presidential administration assures. But France needs to catch up with a significant backlog. Currently, there are only two robots in the armed forces of our country (ULISSE and DIOMEDE) that can descend to a depth below 2000 meters, while 75% of the seabed is located at depths of more than 3000 meters.
The Ministry plans to invest in the development of new robots and underwater drones capable of diving to a depth of up to 6000 meters, with 2030 being taken as the "horizon year". Thanks to on-board sensors, they will allow you to very accurately explore, detect, videotape, photograph. France also wants to acquire new hydrographic vessels "within a few years", which will be equipped with sonar, measuring instruments, drones and robots. Laboratories, control and data transmission systems will also be located there.
But this is in the future, and at the moment the question is: should France worry about cables that are especially vulnerable when they are laid on the bottom? "The cable is not new equipment and it can be easily damaged, for example, by lowering the anchor of some ship," explains Camille Morel. "Many outages are related to accidents and occur as a result of an underwater earthquake or even the use of a fishing net." In such cases, when it is impossible to control every meter of underwater cables, Orange Marine teams, who are on constant alert, can quickly identify the source and localize it. "Security sensors immediately detect damage or even an attempt at cyber espionage," says a specialist in underwater infrastructure.
When a cable is seriously damaged, it is immediately replaced with another one using a backup system. "We are lucky that we have a fairly significant hub for Europe on the French mainland," our interlocutor emphasizes. So "the user won't even realize that there is a problem," says Camille Morel. But the situation looks different for overseas territories, which are often connected with only one cable. "There was an emergency shutdown in Guyana recently, but the telecommunications flow was immediately redirected to a land cable passing through the Amazon River Valley," our source explains.
In fact, the probability of a digital shutdown is very small. "To create a problem for us, the Russians will have to decommission several cables at the same time," and this requires significant material resources, says Camille Morel. Even if such a situation arises, satellites and terrestrial networks can take on significant streams, although the bandwidth of some major providers, such as YouTube and Netflix, may decrease. If, for example, all transatlantic cables were affected — which is extremely unlikely — cables connecting Europe to China could also be used.
In short, the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipeline cause concern among European countries, but these two situations are difficult to compare: unlike gas transportation, simultaneous large-scale actions will be required for power outages. And if France is currently still not fully equipped with the appropriate means of control and response, operators have many options in case of accidents.
