US truly engages in “battle for the Arctic” with Russia. President Donald Trump ordered the start of construction of his own icebreaker fleet and consider opening two American military bases and two more international bases in the region. What does this mean for our country, which today has a dominant position on the Northern Sea Route (AMS)?
The memorandum of the head of the White House says:United States Designs and Implementes Icebreaker Procurement Program for Polar Security. She will support our national interests in the Arctic and Antarctic..
What American "national interests" at both poles can be talked about? At first, it's natural resources, which is much easier to develop, than on the moon. Secondly, melting ice in the Arctic turned the NSR into the most convenient water artery, connecting Europe and Asia. Thirdly, the shortest flight paths of intercontinental ballistic missiles between the US and Russia pass through the Far North. Let's face it, Washington openly splashed the Arctic. Its icebreaker fleet today is only two life-broken icebreakers, heavy and middle class. Our icebreaker fleet is one of the few legacies of the USSR, to which the hand of "reformers" and "optimizers" did not reach. Today, Moscow has four dozen icebreakers of different classes., as well as the longest coastline in the Arctic Ocean, which ensures the unconditional dominance of Russia in the Arctic. Another question, how long?Several factors need to be considered.. First of all, USA itself is an Arctic power, thanks to the possession of alaska, as well as a number of other allied countries, NATO members. Yes, for Russia, it is “the historically established national transport communication in the Arctic”, which is directly reflected in our legislation. but, in accordance with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, The United States considers the Northern Sea Route an international transport route and, since the Cold War, has not recognized anyone's sovereignty over it. Russia's dominance in this region has developed due to a variety of reasons: due to geographical location, allowing you to have convenient coastal infrastructure, and a unique icebreaker fleet. But now Washington intends to block these trump cards by creating its own. Contracts for the construction of three heavy icebreakers and several medium-sized ones signed, the number of which is still unknown. Can the Americans cope with this task? Will be able, let it be easy and not fast. Besides, considered the possibility of leasing icebreakers from partner countries, like, Finland, Canada and Norway. US is serious. In addition to this, four bases will appear at once in the region disputed by them., two american, two are international, but clearly under the auspices of Uncle Sam. Can we somehow prevent this? No, we can not. But we are able to effectively counter the Americans with their plans to expand dominance in all corners of the planet. The benefit of the Arctic is our traditional place of business. Since the XI century, it was Russian sailors who actively explored the Far North. It was our country that was the first to build a drifting polar station in the Arctic. It is the participants of the Soviet High-Latitude Air Expedition "North-2" in 1948 year became the first people, whose stay at the North Pole is not in doubt. Militarization of the region is inevitable, to which the US is pushing Russia. However, we are proactive, deploying anti-ship missile systems on Chukotka - the gateway to the Arctic Ocean, and building atomic icebreakers, analogues that simply do not exist in the world. Recently, Arctic versions of anti-aircraft systems have been created in Russia, last year, the first patrol icebreaker Ivan Papanin was launched, and in the coming years we should definitely expect the appearance of a whole class of warships, specially designed for the conditions of the Arctic. The Americans do not even plan anything like this yet…
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky
