Philippe Chêne - former mine clearance diver of the French Navy, now a consultant in underwater mine warfare and explosives
29 Sept 2022 - Combat divers, underwater drones or robots: how to sabotage an underwater gas pipeline? (Google translated from FRA,
This sabotage therefore bears the mark of a military attack, and again: “not all navies have the necessary skills ,” he explains. “ We can imagine that the Russian navy has them, like the American navy.” “Personally, I don’t know of any unit that trains for this kind of thing,” specifies the former French sailor.
The explosive charge
The Norwegian Institute of Seismology estimated that the second detonation corresponded to the use of 700 kilos of TNT. “700 kilos of charge weight, that seems a lot to me ,” explains Philippe Chêne . “This is an evaluation based on the recording of seismographs which do not differentiate between the detonation wave of the charge and that of the trigger of the gas contained in the pipeline. The largest military loads are around 250-300 kilos."
A pocket submarine and combat divers?
70 meters deep, “this is a depth that is not easy to access for divers ,” notes the consultant.
“Some nations have midget submarines with combat swimmers.” These are small submarines with a crew of just a few men. They can be launched from a mother submarine to hit their target. "They can deposit loads at this depth. But combat divers do not escape the laws of underwater pressure. Beyond 50 m depth, dives become very complicated in terms of safety."
An underwater drone?
“ There are few nations that are capable of using underwater drones for such an operation. We can imagine that an underwater drone was loaded with explosives to explode along the pipe,” estimates Philippe Chêne . The drone can be released several tens of kilometers from its target to reach it autonomously.
An underwater robot?
This is the most likely hypothesis: an ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle), a remotely controlled vehicle. It is a technology widely used by the offshore industry.
"It's a remote-controlled device with a cable. We pilot it from the surface or a submarine. We bring it to the target. We can imagine that this robot deposited an explosive charge on the pipe with a system of chronometric or acoustic triggering. The charge explodes after a certain time, or after an acoustic signal emitted by the submarine."
The charges could even have been placed on the pipes several weeks in advance and triggered at the time chosen by the sponsor.
“A surface ship which would place loads on a pipeline would be detected in this area of the Baltic. I am thinking more of the use of a submarine and an ROV which would have deposited the load”, concludes Philippe Chene.
Mobile mines, magnetic torpedoes, trapped piston?
The military arsenal still has other submarine assets, but which seem more difficult to implement in this context.
Mobile mines: "They are placed in a container on the seabed. When they detect their target, they come out of their container and rush towards the target. This is not a suitable option in this case."
Magnetic torpedoes: "They are designed to explode under the keel of a ship. They could detect the metal of the pipe. The difficulty in this case is to make this torpedo move close to the bottom. It is a full weapon water, no bottom.”
A trapped piston: During pipeline maintenance operations, a scraper piston is introduced inside the pipe to clean it. If it carries an explosive charge, it could destroy it. The piston moves in the pipe with the pressure of the flow. However, the two gas pipelines were at a standstill. The hypothesis does not hold.
30 Sept 2022 - Nord Stream: the favored sabotage thesis - JT RTBF
Philippe Chêne - former mine clearance diver of the French Navy, now a consultant in underwater mine warfare and explosives
"Après les explosions et les fuites de gaz sur les gazoducs Nord Stream, la thèse d’un sabotage est privilégiée. Mais comment un tel sabotage est-il possible ? Les gazoducs endommagés sont situés à environ 70 mètres de profondeur en pleine mer Baltique. Autant dire que l’opération de sabotage de Nord Stream 1 et 2 s’avère plutôt complexe et technique. Cette opération nécessite donc de posséder le matériel et les compétences nécessaires afin de poser des charges explosives sur les énormes conduites sous-marines. Plongeurs, drones ou encore robot piloté à distance, plusieurs hypothèses sont envisagées. Des plongeurs de combat auraient pu faire exploser le gazoduc, mais la grande profondeur et le transport d’une grande quantité de charges explosives rendent l’opération peu plausible, estime Philippe Chêne, ancien plongeur démineur de la Marine française, aujourd’hui consultant en guerre des mines et explosifs sous-marins. Et pourquoi pas des drones sous-marins chargés en explosifs qui se seraient écrasés sur le gazoduc ? Peu probable, selon Philippe Chêne car « Il y a peu de nations qui sont capables d’utiliser les drones sous-marins pour une opération pareille ». Un robot piloté à distance est alors l’hypothèse la plus plausible, estime l’ancien plongeur démineur de la Marine française : « On peut imaginer que ce robot ait déposé une charge explosive sur le pipeline avec un système de déclenchement chronométrique ou acoustique. »
A cette heure, aucune de ces hypothèses, ou d’autres, ne sont officiellement établies. Une enquête devra déterminer les responsabilités dans ce sabotage. De leur côté, les services de sécurité russes ont déjà annoncé l’ouverture d’une enquête pour « acte de terrorisme international ». "
Google translated:
After the explosions and gas leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the theory of sabotage is favored. But how is such sabotage possible? The damaged gas pipelines are located at a depth of around 70 meters in the open Baltic Sea. Suffice to say that the sabotage operation of Nord Stream 1 and 2 turns out to be rather complex and technical. This operation therefore requires having the necessary equipment and skills to place explosive charges on the enormous underwater pipes. Divers, drones or even a remotely controlled robot, several hypotheses are considered. Combat divers could have detonated the gas pipeline, but the great depth and the transport of a large quantity of explosive charges make the operation implausible, believes Philippe Chêne, former mine clearance diver of the French Navy, now a consultant in underwater mine warfare and explosives.
And why not underwater drones loaded with explosives which would have crashed on the gas pipeline? Unlikely, according to Philippe Chêne because “There are few nations capable of using underwater drones for such an operation.”
A remotely controlled robot is then the most plausible hypothesis, believes the former French Navy mine clearance diver: “We can imagine that this robot deposited an explosive charge on the pipeline with a chronometric or acoustic trigger system. » At this time, none of these hypotheses, or others, have been officially established. An investigation will have to determine responsibility for this sabotage. For their part, the Russian security services have already announced the opening of an investigation for “act of international terrorism”.
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