The Possibilities of Cyber Methods as Part of Maritime Warfare: Baltic Sea

摘要

This paper describes how the cyber warfare methods together with the electronic warfare methods can influence the traditional naval missions and change the war character. The level of control of sea is the main element, which affects the formation of the maritime war character. Maritime actions may also be part of the strategic communication of the states which are based on the state's military strategies. The states of the Baltic Sea constitute an interesting case scenario because they are militarily allied in a different way, highly digitalized and dependent on the maritime transport. The harassment of maritime transport and the interruption of the states' western maritime connections would affect the coastal states' society of the Baltic Sea as a whole. All the Baltic Sea states actors increase their maritime capabilities by developing and testing for example cyber and electronic warfare methods and armaments. In the digital world, cyber and electronic defence capabilities play a key role as part of the credible defence of the states. The digitalization of services and activities, as well as the increasingly growing interfaces of the Defence Forces with private sector service providers, add the vulnerabilities and threats. It is questionable whether we can talk about the cyber warfare and whether the cyber-based methods are comparable to the traditional maritime warfare methods. This paper seeks to illustrate how it might be possible to combine cyber and electronic warfare methods to the maritime warfare and how the objectives of the Baltic Sea states' respond to the threats posed by these methods. These possibilities, threats and the activities already carried out are assessed in the light of the international law and the constructive theory of the war character.