With a commitment to co-operate with the military, German wind farms will become legitimate military targets. Submarine cables are to be docked with secret harbours for underwater drones.
The Bundeswehr has been authorised to install and operate fixed installations such as transmitters and receivers on energy production facilities in the North and Baltic Seas. This is stated in the area development plan for the year 2025, which was drawn up by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency and reported on by broadcasters WDR and NDR. According to them, the background to this is the observation of Russian ships that are suspected of being used to sabotage underwater infrastructure.
The plan also obliges operators of offshore facilities to install their own radar systems and to transmit the data obtained to the Waterways and Shipping Administration. This authority does not rule out passing the data on to the German Armed Forces when asked, as reported by WDR and NDR. This is causing concern among the operators – because it is unclear who should pay for the additional technical and organisational costs.
The German Federal Environment Agency had also previously called for greater civil-military cooperation with wind farm operators in a report on ‘applied research issues relating to the expansion of wind energy at sea’. The authority also pointed out that offshore wind turbines with military sensor technology could become legitimate military targets in the event of war. Stefan Thimm from the Federal Association of Offshore Wind Energy (Bundesverband Windenergie Offshore e.V.) also fears this. He therefore sees the protection of the turbines as the responsibility of the state, although the companies are generally willing to co-operate, Thimm told NDR and WDR.
According to the two broadcasters, the German Armed Forces and the Federal Intelligence Service have been testing another little-known surveillance method in parallel to the newly prescribed civil-military cooperation for several years: the use of fibre optic cables at the bottom of the Baltic Sea as sensors for military reconnaissance. The electronic impulses emitted by the cables – similar to radar – can help to allocate engine or propulsion noises to specific ships. This method is known as ‘Distributed Acoustic Sensing’.
The importance of such ‘intelligent’ early warning systems was also emphasised by the EU Commission at the end of March in an ‘EU Action Plan for Cable Security’. This provides for the establishment of a national network of various sensors to detect vibrations and unusual activities near cables. This also includes buoys to monitor the acoustic signatures of ships.
The data generated from this is to be collated in maritime situation reports. According to the Federal Environment Agency, Belgium, which already uses such software for various sensor data, including from offshore platforms, serves as a role model. Other countries can be connected via a programming interface.
NATO has also set up a corresponding control centre as part of the ‘Baltic Sentry’ task force, which is carrying out increased patrols and surveillance flights in response to the sabotage actions in the Baltic Sea attributed to Russia. The focus is on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet – older tankers with which the government in Moscow continues to export oil despite sanctions.
The EU Commission goes one step further in its action plan: submarine cables could also be used as secret harbours for underwater drones. This includes recharging, but also ‘launch and docking solutions for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)’, according to the document. Research into this is already being funded. The EU Commission wants to establish an ‘industry forum’ so that the operators and manufacturers of the facilities can participate in the new civil-military offensive in the North and Baltic Seas.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: AUV’s of this kind might use submarine cables for docking or charging, the EU Commission suggests (Public License).
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