Episode Description — Undersea Warfare: The Deep Frontier

The ocean floor is no longer quiet. In this episode of The War Lab we surface a hidden—but fast-growing—battlefield: the undersea domain. From the 1.4 million kilometers of submarine fiber-optic cables that carry the world’s data to the power pipelines and undersea nodes that keep economies running, the seabed is now a strategic center of gravity—and an inviting target.

We walk through the technologies driving this change (long-endurance power systems, advanced navigation, and AI-enabled UUVs), the mission sets those systems enable (persistent ISR, seabed sabotage, mine warfare, time-critical strikes), and how the United States, China, and Russia are each shaping distinct doctrines around autonomy and seabed operations. Along the way we examine real-world threats—gray-zone sabotage, attacks on cable choke points, and the danger that ubiquitous UUVs pose to the survivability of nuclear deterrents—and the rising arms race in counter-UUV defenses.

If you want a clear, expert tour of why autonomous underwater vehicles and our fragile subsea infrastructure are reshaping naval strategy, deterrence, and global stability, this episode lays it all out: the risks, the technology, and the policy choices that will determine who controls the deep frontier.

Listen in to understand what’s at stake beneath the waves.