PLA scientists say submarine cables carrying 99% of global data could be ‘easy target’

The underwater cables that play a vital role supporting the international digital economy are increasingly vulnerable to attack from low-cost drones, Chinese military researchers have warned.

They said the seabed had long been viewed as a strategic “blind spot” due to the difficulty of exploration and the high cost of controlling it, but was becoming a “new arena for great power rivalry”.

“The barrier to entry for undersea warfare is lowering,” Shi Guanglei and Shi Haiming from the National...