Submarine cables - French media has reported on the threat which hangs over submarine cables which connect the continents to the Internet. The armed forces have reportedly envisaged the nightmare scenario of a “cut which would cause a blackout”. After 7 days of war between Russia and Ukraine the threats are intensifying and the country's allies of Kiev are on alert. In addition to a nuclear threat, there is that of an Internet "black out" with the cutting of transatlantic submarine cables. The threat is not taken lightly. In addition to disconnecting computers, smartphones, the servers through which financial and economic data pass would simply be cut off. In a recent interview Jean-Luc Vuillemin, director of international networks at Orange, recalled that in the event of a power cut, there would simply be no more European internet as 99% of the global network passes through these cables.
Two weeks ago, it was Florence Parly France’s minister of the armed forces, who said that "the seabed is a new terrain of balance of power that we must master it in order to be ready to act, to defend ourselves and if necessary, to take the initiative or at least to retaliate”. This scenario has also been taken very seriously by European defense officials for several years, especially since Russian military ships are increasingly criss-crossing the Irish coasts through which these information highways pass. In August 2021, off the coast of Ireland, the Yantar, an "oceanographic" vessel which has an AS-37 type mini-submarine [Project 16810], was able to dive up to 6,000 meters deep. This Russian Navy spy ship followed the route of the Celtic Norse and AEConnect-1 undersea telecommunications cables that connect Ireland to the United States. It is through them that 97% of global communications and financial transactions pass. In addition, in 2014, cable cuts attributed to Russia were committed during the annexation of Crimea. Ukraine takes the threat seriously.
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