The idea of different areas of competence does exist, you know.
The Nazis had a very capable submarine force in British waters even as their air force fell apart over Britain. The Soviets had good space launch capability and heavy industrial ability even as their microprocessor industry failed to materialize.
In this case, you are targeting a static target that is almost never explicitly protected by naval assets in an environment where the fog of the war effect dominates all considerations. All you have to do is tell each other before the operation that the target (the cables) will be cut at a specific time and date with enough time beforehand to allow guard banding for unforeseen events.
It is not that hard for an enemy navy to target undersea cables in a coordinated attack.
That argument may have flown a year ago, but now? After seeing how inept the russian navy is (the maintenance schedule of the moskiva is a horror show, engines 10,000 hrs overdue for replacement, radar that interrupts communications, guns that dont work, missiles that dont work, a galley that belongs in a SAW film, ece. And this is the FLAGSHIP) you would have to suppose that their submarines are in a unique admin role away from the rest of the navy, a role in which there is no corruption and everyone is competent.
You'd also have to assume that these super competent sub captians somehow manages to sneak into dense shipping lanes, littered with british subs, french subs, diesel subs form other nations, bouys, and surface ships without once being spotted or heard.
There's no evidence to support that russia's sub fleet is any more competent then anything else in russia. I'd say its far more likely that the sub fleet is barely functional.
I'm not claiming at all it was Russia, but I would like to point out their submarine service is probably more competent than their army.
Only in general terms mind you, they are regarded better and funded better as per the estimations of NATO nations. Now the validity of that is questionable because much like the war undertaken now you only see how good something is when it's in action.
Russian emphasis on their submarine capabilities has increased a great deal since the disastrous 1990s and early 2000s. The Kursk sinking led to apparent reform, and they still held onto important capabilities.
It is likely they have quite a bit of experience with covert operations and communications cables. The USA created these types of operations and directed them at the Soviets in the 1970s. Operation Ivy Bells was a daring wiretap on an undersea Soviet cable. All documented in an incredible book called Blind Man's Bluff. The Soviets found out about it due to traitors, themselves realizing what a great idea it all was. That's where it likely started for them. It is a safe bet they retain similar capabilities today, especially considering the digital age we live in.
Those reforms are useless. The T-90s went through a "reform" process, so did the navy. The result?
T-90s having cardboard and egggshell foam instead of reactive armor
Army being sent in with rations left over from gorbachev
Navy ships being sent in with barely functioning, well, everything.
Air force relying on decades old technology and smart weapons that needed GPS from their ideological opponents to function, and backup systems that cant tell an apartment from a runway
A supply line that had so few trucks it was crippled in 2 weeks, and which left literal tons of food, fuel, and ammunition,a long with hundreds of vehicles behind for their opponents to capture
A military doctrine so outdated it belongs in 1941.
A tank surplus so large that now russia is sending outdated T-62s to the front lines because they ran out of t-0s, t-80s, and t-72s, all of which they supposedly had thousands of, each, ready for service.
I'm sure those russian sub "reforms" were just as effective as moskiva's expensive refitting that left it with engines that barely functioned, weapons that didnt, and a radar system that was utterly useless, so bad that a single shoulder launched Neptune missile from the 80s sunk the flagship of the navy, which was unaware it was even attacked.
NATO estimated that russia's sub fleet was well supplied and effective. NATO also estimated that russia's army, navy, and air force were on par with major western nations. Look how well thats turning out for russia....
I dont see russia being capable of pulling this off. They havent managed anything else, and incompetence runs rampant.
