The Underwater War Nobody's Talking About

95% of all international internet traffic — every email, financial transaction, and military communication crossing the ocean — runs through undersea cables that are almost entirely unguarded. Russia and China figured this out. And they're using it.

- Why dragging an anchor across a cable is legal under international maritime law — and why that's exactly the point

- A Swedish submarine commander's assessment from this week's NATO meeting: "We're not at peace, but we're not at war"

- How the U.S. did this first in 1971 — Operation Ivy Bells — and why our Cold War underwater surveillance infrastructure (SOSUS) has since atrophied

- Neal's Ramadi 2005-2006 insurgency parallel: why a smaller, nimbler force doesn't need to win, it just needs to be a pain in the butt

- The asymmetric defense problem: cables are thousands of miles long, unbuilt for hardening, and one cut takes out the whole line

- Where the startup opportunities actually are: undersea drone fleets, cheap mesh sensor networks, faster cable repair — and why NATO has money for this

- Why distributed wind and solar might be the real answer to energy infrastructure security — and why Mike and Neal are already talking to the DoD about it

Hardpoints is hosted by Mike Smith (CEO of Aclymate, former U.S. Navy FA-18 pilot) and Neal Rickner (CEO of Airloom, former Marine Corps FA-18 pilot). Every week: energy security, national security, and the startup economy.