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Reuters reports that Britain, Norway and the United States disrupted a Russian undersea warfare exercise near Svalbard this spring, after detecting Russian vessels associated with Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) using deep sea submersibles to simulate deployment of a new weapon intended to disable subsea cables. The exercise did not damage any cables, but Western officials told Reuters it focused on practicing how the technology could be used during a conflict with NATO. The operation occurred near two 1,400-km fiber-optic cables connecting Svalbard to mainland Norway, which carry satellite data from SvalSat, the world’s largest satellite ground station. The incident comes amid growing NATO concerns over Russian activity around critical undersea infrastructure. Reuters reports that ships have increasingly been observed slowly passing over or near cables and pipelines, potentially mapping them for future use, while NATO and European countries have expanded monitoring through initiatives including Baltic Sentry and Nordic Warden. The three Western countries confronted the Russian vessels at sea, while British and Norwegian officials separately presented Moscow with evidence that they were aware of the technology and its use. Norway’s defense minister said the operation was intended to make clear that attempts to covertly target critical infrastructure would be detected and face consequences. Russia has not commented on the specific incident and routinely denies conducting sabotage operations against NATO countries. Source: