Russian Ambassador Says Subsea Tampering off UK is No Cause for Concern

Launch of the Belgorod, the world's longest submarine. The twin-screw leviathan is likely designed to carry minisubs for covert operations, as well as Russia's nuclear-tipped torpedo (Russian Ministry of Defense)

After recent reports of Russian vessels planting subsea listening devices in waters near the UK, Russia's ambassador to London told BBC that there was no reason for concern - though he did not deny that the Russian military has been at work on Britain's seabed.

"I am not going to deny it, but I wonder whether we really have an interest in following all the British submarine with very old outdated nuclear warheads," Ambassador Andrei Kelin said in an interview. "All these threats are extremely exaggerated . . . absolutely, there is no threat at all from Russia to the UK."

The devices in question are acoustic monitors, believed to be designed to track the movements of the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines. The UK is one of the few nations that maintain an at-sea nuclear deterrent patrol, and while a submarine is the most survivable nuclear launch platform, its edge depends upon stealth. At least three nations - the U.S., China and Russia - maintain subsea listening networks in an attempt to track adversaries' submarines; some of these efforts are well-documented and elaborate, like the U.S. Navy's SOSUS listening station system.

More than a dozen former military officials told The Times that Russia is using its subsea expertise in an attempt to track the Vanguard-class patrols. The report explains the Royal Navy's sudden interest in acquiring two offshore vessels for subsea monitoring and intervention, RFA Proteus and RFA Stirling Castle.

"We are seeing phenomenal amounts of Russian activity," one senior British official told The Times. "There should be no doubt, there is a war raging in the Atlantic."

The most concerning threat is Russia's singular capability to wage subsea warfare. Russia's military has a dedicated and separate subsea branch, the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI), with its own fleet of ultra-deep-diving minisubmarines. These miniature nuclear-powered vessels are among the most secretive subs in the world, and are purpose-built for tapping communications cables, cutting lines or planting explosives in the ocean's depths. If used for attacks on the UK's subsea power cables, offshore gas pipelines and data cables, these capabilities could in theory be used to cause significant economic disruption - like disabling the UK power grid, or cutting off the data connection between London's banking sector and New York.

Even more concerning, "there are cables that are not public," one military official told The Times. "The Russians have the capability to cut military cables."