The sea area South West of Ireland seems an odd area at first sight for the Russian Navy to demonstrate its distant water naval capacity. After all Ireland with its tiny Defence Forces and a neutral is hardly a huge threat to Vladimir. However the location could have less to do with Ireland and more to do with transatlantic communications and economics.
The proposed ‘exercise box’ for the Russian activity sits right astride the main translate communications cables.In 2017 the UK’s most senior military officer warned of a threat posed by Russia to communications and internet cables that run under the sea.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, the chief of the defence staff, said Britain and Nato needed to prioritise protecting the lines of communication was addressing the Royal United Services Institute a western defence ‘think tank’.
He said it would “immediately and potentially catastrophically” hit the economy if they were cut or disrupted”.
At a time when the US, EU and NATO alliance are threatening Russia with wide ranging economic sanctions, perhaps Vladimir is suggesting they could be vulnerable themselves to ‘economic pressures’.
Bernard Moffatt
AGS Celtic League (24th January 2022)
