In these times, A war does not have to start with military weapons shooting at the enemy. There are other variants such as the so-called in which, for example, a country may try to block communications or cut undersea cables carrying data.
In the case of the , the member countries of the Alliance fear that these communications interruptions may come from adversaries such as Vladimir Putin’s Russia or Xi Jinping’s China.
As stated , NATO allieswith the aim of anticipating this type of sabotage, are building a base in which very narrow laser beams will be used to ensure fast and voluminous download of data from satellites.
Specifically, The infrastructure will be located in Kangerlussuaq, in western Greenland and it is being built on a former US military base. Technology developed by Astrolight (Lithuanian company) with the support of the European Space Agency will be used in the laser base.
In relation to the construction of this base in Greenland, the co-founder and CEO of Astrolight, Laurynas Mačiulis, highlighted that “submarine cables can be damaged and may also be vulnerable to interference from other countries… China, Russia… who have access to that area. Therefore, we need a backup solution that is more resistant to interference and that it has a greater capacity and a safer way to communicate with satellites.
It is no coincidence that this laser base is going to be located in Greenland. The Arctic is an area in dispute by the great powers. From Newsweek They emphasize that Russia considers the Arctic to be an integral part of its national defense and is within its zone of political influence. For its part, China defines itself as a “near-Arctic State”, so it understands that the security of the Arctic is part of its state security.
