New Aukus drone subs to protect critical undersea cables as Marles warns: ‘seabed is a battlefield’

The defence minister, Richard Marles , has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels. The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables. The same announcement also revealed that Australia would buy three secondhand Virginia-class submarines from the US under Aukus, instead of a mix of old and new, in a move to “simplify supply chain management, operational and maintenance requirements, and maximise cost efficiencies”. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Marles said undersea internet cables – “the arteries of modern civilisation” – were being cut at an unprecedented rate, with island nations like Australia acutely vulnerable. “The seabed is becoming a battlefield. The shadow fleet is becoming a weapon,” he told Asia’s largest defence summit. “Over the past 18 months, we have witnessed a series of attacks against subsea critical infrastructure at a scale and frequency that is historically unprecedented. “This is not speculation. This is a documented pattern of behaviour. And we must reckon with it honestly.” Marles cited five cases of cables being cut in the Taiwan Strait in the past 18 months, attributed to China , and three in the Baltic Sea, alleged to have been committed by Russia. …