According to Reuters, this spring, NATO allies caught Russian submarines in the Arctic waters off Svalbard while they were testing a new technology to disable critical undersea cables without leaving a trace. The operation was being carried out by Russia’s deep-sea warfare unit GUGI. A joint operation by the UK, Norway, and the US tracked the Russian vessels and forced them to leave the area. Two 1,400-km fiber-optic cables, stretching 2,700 meters deep, connecting Svalbard to mainland Norway, were the target. — They carry data for SvalSat, the world’s largest satellite ground station, also used by NASA. Russia did not damage any cable; the exercise was solely intended to simulate how the technology would be used in a future conflict.
