Aukus to build undersea drones to protect cables as Marles warns seabed is a battlefield

The US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop underwater drone technology intended to protect undersea cables, and revealed Australia will 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, defence minister Richard Marles said the "seabed is a battlefield" and warned undersea internet cables — "the arteries of modern civilisation" — were being cut at an unprecedented rate, leaving island nations like Australia acutely vulnerable.

He cited five cases of cables being cut in the Taiwan Strait and three in the Baltic Sea over the past 18 months and called the pattern "documented" rather than speculative.

Australia, Singapore

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