Part 3/16:
Critical Infrastructure at Risk
Almost all of the UK's digital communications depend on submarine fiber-optic cables, which carry everything from phone calls to financial transactions and military commands. Additionally, three-quarters of the UK's natural gas supply runs beneath the sea through pipelines. The loss or sabotage of these lines could be catastrophic, causing widespread blackouts, crippling data traffic, and blinding NATO's undersea surveillance systems.
Such disruptions could occur subtly and without traditional combat. In the "gray zone" of modern conflict—engagements that fall below conventional warfare's threshold—Russia could cut or manipulate these cables, creating chaos without firing a single shot.