Resilient and Rapidly Restorable Cabled Communications (R3C2)

Underwater cable networks are critical infrastructure that account for 97% of the world’s data traffic. Their high data-rate, reliability, low latency, and long-range provide significant advantages over satellite and RF options, and their protection is a commercial and national security priority. The combination of underwater cables’ high commercial value, and lengthy procurement and installation cycles puts them at significant risk due to ship anchors, fishing equipment or bad actors. To address this risk and enable continued, long-range, high data-rate communications during times of disruption, Makai Ocean Engineering is developing FASTCOM, a new, lightweight underwater cable system that is be pre-positioned at strategic locations to enable installation from widely available vessels of opportunity in days rather than months.