strengthen the perception of States that the cables are inviolable, and that adequate international and national procedures are available to deter interference and compensate for losses. The Convention expressly protects the freedom to lay and maintain cables beyond the territorial sea of any State and strengthens the legal protections from interference both in international tribunals and foreign courts.
Our defense strategy relies upon collection, assimilation, and retransmission of information. The great successes of US forces during the Persian Gulf conflict as well as the effectiveness of the recent NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia-Herzegovina testify to the importance of maintaining effective command, control, and communications systems (C3). The use of submarine cables and maritime-based satellite telecommunications are the glue which holds our vast information system together. The high seas freedoms recognized in the Convention play a key role in DOD's continued use of undersea cables for national security purposes. [see Figure 5]
Nine articles in the Convention protect the right of States to lay, maintain, and use submarine cables and pipelines on the seabed, including foreign EEZs and continental shelves as well as the international seabed area beyond. In archipelagic waters, States retain the right to use and maintain cables and pipelines which are currently in operation. This broad authority to lay and maintain submarine cables has proven to be of vital importance to the Defense Communications System. The trend in DOD communications roughly parallels the exponential growth in the commercial use of submarine fiber-optic cable for intercontinental telecommunications traffic.
The Convention's guarantees in this area are critical, since the Department of Defense currently relies on fiber-optic cable for approximately sixty percent of its telecommunications needs, and on other systems (satellite, microwave, and copper cable) for the remaining forty percent. Some of these fiber-optic systems are owned outright by DOD, and others are leased for exclusive DOD use. The reliability and low cost of fiber-optic communications enables DOD to have diversity in communications pathways and minimum periods of outage. It also frees up valuable satellite capacity for mobile and contingency-related ground and maritime operations.
THE LOS CONVENTION PROVIDES CLEAR AND CONCRETE RULES FOR DETERMINING THE LEGALITY OF MARITIME CLAIMS
One of the principal accomplishments of the LOS Convention is the establishment of a clear set of maritime zones: the territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ, and continental shelf, which uphold the resource and environmental interests of coastal States, balanced against the interest of maritime and trading
