[HN Gopher] Universal Jointing for Submarine Cables
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       Universal Jointing for Submarine Cables
        
       Author : altrus
       Score  : 49 points
       Date   : 2024-10-16 15:47 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (ujconsortium.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (ujconsortium.com)
        
       | olliej wrote:
       | Awww it's talking about "submarine cables" in the sense of
       | "cables that go under water", not "cables that are in
       | submarines".
       | 
       | Which obviously makes more sense, but I was really curious to
       | learn about this new problem I'd never considered about
       | construction of submarines :)
        
       | Animats wrote:
       | The actual fiber joining is done with this device: [1]
       | 
       |  _" This fusion splicer automatically aligns a pair of optical
       | fibers in both the X and Y (horizontal and vertical) planes and
       | then fuses them together with heat from an electric arc to form a
       | low-loss splice. Improved image processing software of this
       | fusion splicer enables precise core alignment and accurately
       | estimated splice loss. A tensile proof test that is carried out
       | by applying tension to the fusion splice verifies the long-term
       | reliability of the fiber splice. Following a successful proof
       | test, a heat-shrinkable splice protection sleeve is installed
       | over the bare glass fiber and cured in the built-in heater."_
       | 
       | Here's a video of a similar fusion splicer for land-based use.[2]
       | The fussy part of aligning the fibers is automated now.
       | 
       | The "universal jointing" thing seems to be more about joining all
       | the outer layers of an undersea cable that give it protection and
       | tensile strength. After the fiber has been spliced, all that
       | outer protection has to be joined, too. Visualize a heavy hose
       | wrapped around a steel strand bridge cable wrapped around a coax
       | cable with a fiber optic strand at the center. Now connect two of
       | those sturdily enough to spend 25 years on the ocean bottom.
       | 
       | [1] https://ujconsortium.com/information/fusion-splicer-ujs-s200
       | 
       | [2] https://youtu.be/JP_C0XLLyR0?t=578
        
         | metadat wrote:
         | Great video, thanks for sharing!
         | 
         | How does the fusion splice process take place deep under water?
        
           | Animats wrote:
           | The ends of the cable are on board the cable ship when this
           | is done. For broken cables, cable ships find the ends, catch
           | them with drags, haul the end onboard a ship, and splice in
           | an additional section.
           | 
           | Animated video from a company that does this: [1]
           | 
           | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiwidMEv8CM
        
           | wantoncl wrote:
           | > How does the fusion splice process take place deep under
           | water?
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jimmy_Carter
        
       | RecycledEle wrote:
       | Many who want to avoid taps on their cables will resist standard
       | connectors if they are not both tamper-proof and tamper-evident.
        
         | wood_spirit wrote:
         | The adversaries tapping undersea cables are state actors
         | operating extremely expensive kit.
         | 
         | The US did this in the Cold War as Operation Ivy Bells. A spy
         | leaked this to the soviets who then retrieved a tap.
         | 
         | But it went on. Nowadays the US operates the USS Jimmy Carter
         | and the Russians have a whole directorate, GUGI, operating a
         | fleet of special submarines and surface ships.
         | 
         | Links:
         | http://www.hisutton.com/Secret%20Sub%20-%20USS%20Halibut.htm...
         | 
         | http://www.hisutton.com/Undersea_Cables.html
        
         | ttyprintk wrote:
         | I get your point but I wonder about "many". Of the 532 cable
         | runs, I wager that a cut cable is more impactful than traffic
         | analysis. In USA, the specifics of eavesdropping even require
         | that the origin of one side of the traffic is assumed or known.
        
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