"Increased threat" to UK by Russia revealed with Royal Navy to be tasked with protecting vulnerable target

Luke Pollard MP, the armed forces minister, said there are significant threats to these power lines, particularly 12 transatlantic cables. It has previously been indicated that Russia could cut these lines to destabilise the nation, having been blamed for incident in the Baltic Sea in the past.

Speaking to the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy yesterday, Mr Pollard said: “I think there’s certainly a newfound understanding that cables are a target. And so where this was not really spoken about a few decades ago, it is now a regular topic of conversation about the overall threat.

“It is certainly true that more data is travelling across the transatlantic cables than ever before and we’ve become more reliant on data for the health of our industry. And so the value of that connectivity has increased. I think the way the Ministry of Defence looks at this is from the threat perspective.”

The Labour politician said the UK is facing a new era of threats, with new technology meaning that cables at the bottom of the ocean can be reached and tampered with. Members of the committee said two cables which terminate in Bude, Cornwall account for three-quarters of data traffic across the Atlantic.

Mr Pollard said the system would cope with an attack on some of the larger cables.

Royal Navy’s role in protecting undersea cables

New military capabilities are being tested to protect critical infrastructure. RFA Proteus, a civilian vessel transformed into a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship (MROSS), will house Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROUVs) and be tasked with monitoring undersea cables. She will be crewed by Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel.

During a tour of the vessel while she was docked in Portsmouth in January, Mr Pollard said: “Those nations that are thinking about interfering with our critical national infrastructure should be in no doubt that we will use our formidable military assets to defend our national security. Proteus’ capabilities are cutting-edge, world leading and it will be a part of defending our national security in the future, especially undersea cables.”