To protect undersea cables in the Middle East, U.S. needs a new hub

Undersea fiber-optic cables serve as not only the economic and communications backbone of much of the civilian world, but for military operations as well.

And while recent incidents in which cables have been cut — accidentally or not — have mostly been confined to European and Asian waters, threats to undersea cables will inevitably expand to the Middle East, too — urgently requiring more US action to protect them.

Undersea cables undergird the global commerce system, and are responsible for transmitting about 97 percent of global data traffic and roughly $10 trillion in international financial transactions daily, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Read more at Breaking Defense