1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:11,240 Welcome to Spycraft, a podcast that tells gripping life and death spy stories and 2 00:00:11,359 --> 00:00:17,120 the amazing devices and operations that made them possible. Now, let's get started. 3 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:28,920 Underwater espionage refers to clandestine activities that involve gathering information, conducting surveillance, 4 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:34,920 or carrying out covert operations and underwater environments. Typically involves a use of specialized 5 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:40,039 equipment and techniques. Underwater espionage can take place in various settings, including ocean, 6 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,200 seas, lakes, or rivers, and may involve submarines, divers, 7 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,640 and unmanned water vehicles. The objective, of course, is to gather information 8 00:00:47,719 --> 00:00:53,119 but enemy naval capabilities monitoring naval movements. It could also be conducting covert operations 9 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:58,840 to gather classified or sensitive and sensitive information related to underwater technologies, offshore resources. 10 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,719 Trade secrets also can collect dat on marine ecosystems, pollution levels, or 11 00:01:03,799 --> 00:01:07,000 underwater activities that may violate international regulations or pose a threat to the environment. 12 00:01:07,879 --> 00:01:11,400 And finally, it could also be used for protecting maritime assets such as parts, 13 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:18,760 harbors or underwater infrastructure. In recent history, we saw in two thirteen 14 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,920 where there have been more reported instances of intelligence agencies intercepting or tapping underwater communication 15 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,239 cables to gather information. We saw this and the documents that were leaked by 16 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:33,400 Edwins Edward Snowton revealed in the NSA had tapped undersea fiber optic cables as part 17 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:36,879 of their surveillance program. In addition, we see China, who have been 18 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,959 reports of underwater drones operated by nations engaging in activities that could be seen in 19 00:01:41,159 --> 00:01:47,319 espionage. And in the most recent cases we saw it on how it traced 20 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:55,920 Titan. They have unfortunate disaster that underwater submarine that well I guess imploded under 21 00:01:55,959 --> 00:02:00,680 the water, and that was tragic. Of all the categories of national secrets 22 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:05,200 the US government keeps, few have been as tightly guarded is how the military 23 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,840 uses sophisticated acoustic technology to keep an ear you can say on what its adversaries 24 00:02:08,879 --> 00:02:14,439 are doing thousands of feet below. Driving the push for such capabilities are decades 25 00:02:14,439 --> 00:02:21,599 of Cold War briingmanship and fears about Soviet submarines. Anything involving the nuclear triad 26 00:02:21,719 --> 00:02:28,159 is super secret. Anything involving US censor capabilities is the same. One such 27 00:02:28,199 --> 00:02:31,159 system. It couldn't be determined which heard what officials could thought could be the 28 00:02:31,199 --> 00:02:36,680 implosion of the Titan submersible just hours after the vehicle began its voyage. The 29 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,439 US Navy report it's finding through the Coastguard commander on site. While the Navy 30 00:02:39,439 --> 00:02:44,439 couldn't say definitively the sound came from the Titan, the discovery helped to narrow 31 00:02:44,439 --> 00:02:50,360 the scope of the search for a lost craft. US efforts to develop underwater 32 00:02:50,439 --> 00:02:54,120 surveillance capacities traced back more than a century ago. Sonar, which uses sound 33 00:02:54,159 --> 00:02:58,479 waves to detect and locate objects, was using World War One by the British 34 00:02:58,479 --> 00:03:01,280 and others to detect submarines. During World War Two, the US developed long 35 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:07,960 range son aren't to detect German U boats. German U boats, the danger 36 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,840 of nuclear war became a central fact of modern life. In the Cold War 37 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,280 history and fewous arms were furious. Arms race began, and so it was 38 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:19,039 detection, especially acoustic detection on the seas. The omitted goal of Soviet animals 39 00:03:19,039 --> 00:03:23,000 was to achieve naval supremacy to use the Navy as a key element of Soviet 40 00:03:23,039 --> 00:03:29,039 global strategy. The systems remained into the use today and likely detected the noises 41 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,240 made by the implosion of the Titan, but we'll never know for sure. 42 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:37,560 As soon as you start talking about anti submarine warfare systems, you immediately hit 43 00:03:37,599 --> 00:03:42,680 top secret clearance. So if the Navy doesn't seem particularly forthcoming, it can't 44 00:03:42,719 --> 00:03:47,639 be, at least not without presidential authority to declassify. So there's your story 45 00:03:47,639 --> 00:03:50,000 of underwater espionage.