Category: Security policy

Severed

The attacks on the Nordstream pipelines at the latest have highlighted the vulnerability of underwater infrastructure. The West must therefore invest more in protecting and securing these vital links. At a time of geopolitical tensions with attacks on critical underwater infrastructure, seabed warfare has become highly topical. It aims to protect critical underwater infrastructure such as submarine cables, pipelines, telephone and internet lines, power lines and oil rigs - an enormous challenge given the vast sea areas and laying depths. Until the Nordstream pipelines in the Baltic Sea were blown up in 2022, the Balticconnector gas pipeline was damaged and a data cable between Estonia and Finland was interrupted in 2023, little thought had been given to hybrid sabotage attacks....

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Back to the roots

During the Cold War, the aim was to deny the Warsaw Pact access to the western Baltic Sea. At the same time, the North Atlantic had to be secured for the supply of material and troops from the USA and Canada. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the focus shifted to the Mediterranean. First there were crisis operations in the Adriatic, then the Mediterranean became the EU's southern flank and later its external border, which is still evident 30 years later in the Navy's numerous Mediterranean deployments. Since then, it has also been involved in numerous missions in the Horn of Africa between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The navy is currently operating to protect shipping...

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Oceans in danger

Millions of people are directly dependent on a well-functioning marine ecosystem - and many more indirectly. The global fight against illegal fishing is an important element in preserving this basis of life. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF) is a significant problem for both regional and global maritime security. IUU fishing has significant negative economic and environmental impacts and even affects inter-state relations. Fish stocks, the maritime environment and entire economic sectors are affected. IUUU includes fishing without proper licences, misreporting of catches and the...

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Cable clutter

Underwater cables are one of the lifelines of the global economy. Time and again, dubious incidents occur on the seabed. Pipelines on the seabed have recently been in the news. But what about the other underwater infrastructure, the telecommunications, supply and energy cables, here and in the hot spots of the earth? In 1858, the first transatlantic submarine cable was put into operation between the USA and Europe. Since then, 600 submarine communication cables have been laid worldwide, totalling four million kilometres in length, through which, among other things, 97 percent of all Internet data is transported. Compared to these fixed connections, communication via satellite is around fifteen times more expensive. Underwater cables...

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With mosquitoes against the bear

Interview with the former Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Igor Kabanenko, by Hans Uwe Mergener and Holger Schlüter. Can you give us an insight into the current state of the Ukrainian navy? How do you see its future? Ukraine's naval forces entered the war when the Strategy for the Development of Ukraine's Naval Forces until 2035, adopted in 2018, was just beginning to be implemented, i.e. during a transitional period. A key part of this strategy included the creation of so-called Mosquito capabilities, i.e. a fleet of small, fast and highly manoeuvrable manned combat platforms. Let me take this opportunity to access marineforum digital+ You are already...

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