Richard Marles warned at the Shangri-La Dialogue that Beijing must be more transparent about maritime operations and criticized weak international controls over shadow-fleet vessels. The US, UK, and Australia announced an Aukus project to develop underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables. Australia will buy three secondhand Virginia-class submarines from the US to simplify supply chains and reduce operational and maintenance complexity while maximizing cost efficiencies. Marles said undersea internet cables are being cut at an unprecedented rate, citing five Taiwan Strait cable cuts in 18 months attributed to China and three Baltic Sea cuts alleged to involve Russia. He said even if accidents, the incidents show critical infrastructure vulnerability and may be testing response times and attribution thresholds.
"“The seabed is becoming a battlefield. The shadow fleet is becoming a weapon,” he told Asia's largest defence summit."
Read at www.theguardian.com
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