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Inside the Pentagon and the nation's spy agencies, the assessments of Russia's growing naval activities are highly classified and not publicly discussed in detail. American officials are secretive about what they are doing both to monitor the activity and to find ways to recover quickly if cables are cut. But more than a dozen officials confirmed in broad terms that it had become the source of significant attention in the Pentagon.
"I'm worried every day about what the Russians may be doing," said Rear Adm. Frederick J. Roegge, commander of the Navy's submarine fleet in the Pacific, who would not answer questions about possible Russian plans for cutting the undersea cables.
Cmdr. William Marks, a Navy spokesman in Washington, said: "It would be a concern to hear any country was tampering with communication cables; however, due to the classified nature of submarine operations, we do not discuss specifics."
In private, however, commanders and intelligence officials are far more direct. They report that from the North Sea to Northeast Asia and even in waters closer to American shores, they are monitoring significantly increased Russian activity along the known routes of the cables, which carry the lifeblood of global electronic communications and commerce.
Just last month, the Russian spy ship Yantar, equipped with two self-propelled deep-sea submersible craft, cruised slowly off the East Coast of the United States on its way to Cuba — where one major cable lands near the American naval station at Guantánamo Bay. It was monitored constantly by American spy satellites, ships and planes. Navy officials said the Yantar and the submersible vehicles it can drop off its decks have the capability to cut cables miles down in the sea.
See also a BBC story here.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Dunbal on Thursday November 05 2015, @12:48PM
The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! Seriously you Americans make me laugh. Get over yourselves already. Every time I think you've calmed down some other idiot either in NATO or the US military dreams up these "scary scenarios" where Russia suddenly destroys the United States because of some new imaginary "threat". What you should be MORE afraid of is the billions and billions of dollars your government is bilking you under the pretense of "defending" you, when it has proven time and time again to be no more competent than a drunk teenager. 40 million dollar gas stations [usatoday.com] should concern you. Million dollar washers should scare the crap out of you [bloomberg.com]. While the pentagon may have a "plan" for every possible scenario ready to go, recent years have shown that these plans more likely than not will only result in dead Americans (as well as plenty of dead foreigners of course!) and no net gain - in fact, it will probably make matters WORSE! Y'all need to get your monster government under control and sane again because the threat to the world is actually YOU, nowadays.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 05 2015, @01:26PM
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday November 05 2015, @05:52PM
And the 40 million gas station is NOT a crime? Way to miss the fucking point.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 05 2015, @10:20PM
[quote]From your linked source, the $1,000,000 washer was, in fact, a crime. One which was caught and punished by a fine (essentially for the money back) and an additional 20 years in prison.[/quote]
Yeah, it's fixed now. Expect to see the US military plummet and its effectiveness skyrocket!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 05 2015, @04:42PM
Sorry bud, I guess you drank our koolaid and believe that we have a free system where the people have a say in how things are run... Also, where else in the world is "y'all" used?? You an expat?
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday November 05 2015, @05:57PM
I spent many years in the southern US as a child. I used to be one of America's biggest fans. That's probably where the y'all comes from :) But no, I'm a Canadian ex-pat, not an American one. I currently live in Panama.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 05 2015, @05:45PM