The Alliance's Challenge: Underwater Infrastructure Protection
Pipelines or data cables laid in the ocean need special protection in times of heightened geopolitical tensions. A challenge in view of the huge sea areas and enormous laying depths. NATO has recognized the problem and is creating the conditions for the efficient protection of these infrastructures. That's only possible together.
It is an unsettling certainty: Russia has been spying in northern waters for years. In the Great Belt, the Kattegat and the North Sea. With regular naval units, but also covertly with civilian ships such as the research vessel "Admiral Vladimirsky". Sometimes with, often without the usual position transmitters. The focus of the Russians is mostly on gas pipelines, offshore wind farms and undersea cables. So, the nerve cords of the energy supply and communication of the West, critical undersea infrastructure par excellence.
NATO Council is pushing for infrastructure protection measures
Retired Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann is not surprised. As early as February, the NATO Council at defense minister level announced the establishment of a coordination cell to protect critical underwater infrastructure. The initiative for this came from Norway and Germany. Wiermann, who only retired in August 2022, returned to Brussels as head of this cell.
Since then, he and his colleagues have traveled a lot, Wiermann says. The day before, he had already been to the Chancellery and the Ministry of Defence. After the interview, we go to the Federal Foreign Office and on to Lithuania the next day. "We bring the conversation threads together," says Wiermann. “To do this, we mainly talk to governments and the military from NATO countries and to representatives of industry. Our message is: NATO can help protect these underwater infrastructures effectively.”
As a maritime alliance, NATO is even predestined for this, Wiermann continued. But the North Atlantic and the adjacent seas are a very large area. "And in order to operate successfully there, we need a solid database."
Extracting and analyzing data is key
On the one hand, technical details about certain infrastructures are important, on the other hand, the exact geographic location of lines. "Industry is already using technically mature systems that indicate when a cable breaks or an object is approaching," says Wiermann. However, closer networking will be required in the future, especially for the evaluation of the data obtained. This is also expressly desired by many large companies. In general, the acquisition, analysis and use of data play a decisive role.
Monitoring and Intelligence vs. Hybrid Threat
After the attack on the Nord Stream routes in September 2022, NATO doubled its forces in the North and Baltic Seas to fly the flag along its own infrastructure. However, squadrons of aircraft and ships for sea surveillance cannot be the Alliance's sole response to espionage activities. In view of the huge area, it is impossible to monitor every meter of data cable or pipeline around the clock. Rather, the intention is to make the monitoring by various sensors so dense that an attack on the infrastructure can be detected by a possible attacker.
“When submarine cables have been laid thousands of meters deep, it has been technically difficult up until now to clearly name someone responsible. And that has an inviting effect on potential opponents in the context of hybrid warfare," says Wiermann. This can cause serious damage if necessary. "But if it is clear who is responsible for an attack, that has a deterrent effect," explains Wiermann. "And that's what matters."
Until the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, the former three-star general intends to continue working flat out to convince all partners in the alliance to bring a suitable concept through the North Atlantic Council. "If we succeed in setting the course in Lithuania, we can start implementing it immediately afterwards," says Wiermann. "It won't be a walk in the park, but there is no alternative."
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