LONDON: Deep in Arctic waters near the remote Svalbard archipelago this spring, Nato allies caught Russian subs training to unleash a secret weapon designed to disable critical undersea cables without leaving any fingerprints.
The clandestine Russian operation, described by two Western officials, was carried out by Moscow’s GUGI undersea warfare directorate, which used deep-sea submersibles to simulate the deployment of the sophisticated and destructive technology.
An operation involving Britain, Norway and the US tracked and confronted the Russian vessels at sea, said the two officials. The vessels were prevented from completing their exercise and eventually left the area.
Britain and Norway disclosed in April that they had uncovered a covert Russian operation in Arctic waters. But the discovery of the new weapon has not been reported.
Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2026
