China shows off powerful new technology which could cripple US military dominance in future wars
China has revealed a breakthrough deep-sea cable cutting device which could sever underwater communications lines across the world.
The tool is said to be able to operate as deep as four kilometres below the waves – twice as far down as the maximum depth at which telecoms cables can run.
The device has been designed specifically to integrate with China’s high-tech crewed and uncrewed submersible vehicles, according to the South China Morning post – but its unveiling marks an uneasy breakthrough in the eyes of the West.
The news marks the first time that any country has officially confirmed its ability to snip underwater cables – 870,000 miles of which exist around the world – and follows a series of China-linked sabotages in European waters.
In November 2024, a Chinese ship allegedly “under orders from Russia” was said to have sabotaged a pair of critical internet cables in the Baltic Sea.
That ship, identified by Denmark as the Yi Peng 3, severed the cables when it dragged its anchor along the seabed for over 100 miles.
Then in January this year, another Chinese vessel was accused of damaging an undersea telecommunications cable off the coast of Taiwan.
Taiwanese defence expert Ho Cheng-hui noted after that incident that China has an extensive history of using various maritime tactics to sabotage Taiwanese infrastructure.
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Ho also warned the cable damage may have been a Chinese attempt to test the limits of any international response as part of its “grey zone” tactics.
The newly-unveiled cable cutter, developed by the China Ship Scientific Research Center and the State Key Laboratory of Deep-Sea Manned Vehicles, targets “armoured cables”.
Said cables are communications lines with steel, rubber and polymer casings – and make up the overwhelming majority of global data transmissions.
Researchers have insisted the tools exist for “civilian salvage” and seabed mining use.
But with Beijing’s eyes on the South China Sea, which contains a selection of key US bases, worries have risen in recent years that the world’s second-largest economy could cut the cables off in the event of a conflict.
Kenny Huang, chief executive officer at the Taiwan Network Information Center, told Bloomberg as far back as 2022 that the cables were an “Achilles’ Heel” to Taiwan.
Meanwhile, security experts have, in the last few days, warned of infrastructural threats closer to home.
Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, told GB News: “If China maintains a stranglehold on our national security infrastructure, it could leave Britain undefended.”