FEATURE
A REBOOT OF WARTIME SUBMARINE FIBER OPTIC CABLES Options to Repair Underseas Fiber Optic Cables in the Event of War or Sabotage are Limited. This Must Change. BY CAPTAIN DOUGLAS R. BURNETT, U.S. NAVY (RETIRED)
This article originally appeared in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings in October 2022. Copyright U.S. Naval Institute. Reprinted with permission.
W
hat should the U.S. government do when the transoceanic submarine fiber optic cables that supply, at the speed of light, more than 99 percent of the international voice, data, video, and internet communications between the United States and the rest of the world are damaged or cut during wartime? Declare an emergency? Then what? Fortunately, Congress enacted a National Security Council–generated solution in 2019 with the Submarine Security Fleet law that addresses this situation in the context of a national emergency triggered by the hostile actions at sea of peer state competitors. Unfortunately, the solution is not getting the funding it needs to work. Russia’s recent attack on Ukraine and corresponding Russian threats to communication infrastructure against Western nations that challenge Russia’s right to invade a sovereign nation is a timely reminder of the critical value of U.S.-flagged and -crewed submarine cable repair ships.
54
SUBMARINE TELECOMS MAGAZINE
REPAIRS IN CONTESTED WATERS
During hostilities in contested oceans, the peacetime arrangements for repairing cables will flounder. Peacetime cable ship maintenance agreements contain force majeure clauses that excuse performance of cable ships in the event of war involving the flag state or major global powers. Even if the agreements were to be performed, the normal peacetime repair ship call-out procedures, such as the customary “first come, first serve” cable repair priority and common shared international consensus decision-making practices, would be overwhelmed in a topsy-turvy scenario in which belligerent actions damage many submarine cables and national governments all want their specified cable repairs attended to first. Crews will be reluctant to sail in contested waters where the cable ships are likely targets. Multinational crewing with divided national loyalties and visa restrictions add complexity in wartime conditions.1 Standard marine protection and indemnity insurance