World, 4 min read

‘The arteries of modern civilization’: The US and allies take action to protect seabed cables

By Tim Lister, May 31, 2026

Offshore electric cabling for the Walney Offshore windfarm project being loaded onto a cable laying vessel in the docks in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, UK.Global Warming Images/Shutterstock

The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have taken a big step towards tackling growing threats to undersea pipelines and cables, which carry huge amounts of energy and data around the world.

The three governments are planning to develop new unmanned undersea vehicles ⁠as part of their trilateral AUKUS defense ⁠pact.

The agreement was announced at a meeting of the three countries’ defense ministers in Singapore, with deliveries due next year.

Western governments see a growing risk of Russian and Chinese sabotage of undersea cables and are also concerned that Iran may seek to exploit the many data networks running through the shallow waters of the Persian Gulf.

The “seabed is a battlefield” said Australia’s Defence Minister, Richard Marles, in Singapore, calling for tougher action against so-called shadow-fleet vessels.

US President Donald Trump has been severely critical of European allies for spending too little on defense and not helping restore freedom of navigation in the Gulf. But the US has continued to work with governments in Europe and Asia on new defense technologies, especially drones.

The programme will improve the three nations’ reconnaissance and strike capabilities, “and bolster ⁠superiority in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare,” as well as mine countermeasures, AUKUS said.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the vehicles would be highly adaptable and “support undersea operations and maintain our collective advantage in the maritime domain.”

The new AUKUS project will sharpen all three countries’ ability to respond to threats, including those targeting underwater cables and pipelines, through a range of “cutting edge sensors and weapons systems for undersea drones,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said.

Marles said undersea internet cables – “the arteries of modern civilization” – were being cut at an unprecedented rate, with island nations like Australia acutely vulnerable.

“Over the past 18 months, we have witnessed a series of attacks against subsea critical infrastructure at a scale and frequency that is historically unprecedented,” he said.

Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles speaks to the press in Singapore.Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images

The UK government has also highlighted the vulnerability of the world’s digital highways.

“Every international payment, every cross-border trade executed in milliseconds, every flow of data between businesses here in the UK and markets overseas – all travel along the seabed,” Telecoms Minister Liz Lloyd said Friday.

A vulnerable network

Around 570 cables (plus a further 80 planned) carry between 95% and 99% of the world’s intercontinental telecommunications data. Fiber cables can carry terabits per second; satellites handle far less.

Continue/Read Original Article: US, UK and Australia agree pact to protect undersea cables, ‘the arteries of modern civilisation’ | CNN