Three U.S. and British Submarines Meet at the North Pole
Two American submarines and one British boat gathered near the North Pole in mid-March 2018 for one of the biggest Arctic undersea exercises in decades. ICEX 2018, the 27th in a series of roughly biennial exercises dating back to 1959, kicked off in early March, when aircraft from the... Read more
Is the Arctic the Next Superpower Battleground?
The harsh, sparsely populated Arctic is warming and sea ice is falling, which means governments are looking north for both economic ventures and as an arena of strategic competition. This goes even more so for the Kremlin. Russia has the longest Arctic border in the world, and its oil and gas... Read more
Russia’s Machines Are Well-Suited for Arctic Conflict
Over the past decade, nations bordering on the Arctic have found themselves with a big new security problem. The melting of the Arctic ice has opened up shipping lanes and opportunities for the exploitation for undersea resources, but has also exposed vulnerabilities for countries that have long considered their... Read more
Why the Russian Military Is Reaching Into the Arctic
In the summer of 2007, Russia planted a flag on the seabed of the North Pole. Russian state television covered the event as a submersible packed with explorers and Kremlin officials descended to the depths of the Arctic and laid claim over its potential resources for Russia. Canada complained, but... Read more
Russia Wants to Put a 76-Millimeter Cannon on an Icebreaker
Russia has by far the largest icebreaker fleet in the world with a total of more than 40 publicly and privately owned, including six nuclear-powered icebreakers all capable of punching through Arctic sea ice. It’s also building new ones after a delay of more than four decades, launching the... Read more
U.S. Troops Hunted for Mock Satellite in Arctic War Game
When U.S. Army paratroopers jumped from their plane near Dead Horse, Alaska on Feb. 22, 2017, the sub-zero weather was reason enough for the practice session. Parachute jumps are complicated and dangerous in the best weather. But the exercise planners had already added another unique element to the war game.... Read more