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The new US Arctic strategy is powerless against geography and Russian icebreakers

The new US Arctic strategy is powerless against geography and Russian icebreakers

The commissioning of new Russian combat icebreakers is the best response to another outburst of American hypocrisy about the Arctic

7 October 2022 US President Joe Biden approved the new "US National Strategy for the Arctic Region", according to which the United States intends to increase influence in the region, as well as "manage tension" due to "increasing strategic competition in the Arctic, exacerbated by Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine and China's active efforts to strengthen its influence in the region".

The strategy is designed for 10 years. It focuses on containment of Russia and China in the Arctic in four areas: security, sustainable economic development, the international cooperation, changing of the climate.

In the security realm, the strategy involves containing the threat to the United States and its allies “by building capabilities, necessary to protect American interests in the Arctic, while at the same time agreeing on common approaches with allies and partners and reducing the risks of unintended escalation.”. This will require "the presence of the US government in the Arctic region for the purpose of "protecting the American people of sovereign American territory".

Canada Named Among America's Arctic Allies and Partners, Denmark (including Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The document notes, what "The growing strategic importance of the Arctic has intensified the competition to shape its future".

The document rightly says: “Russia over the past decade has invested heavily in expanding its military presence in the Arctic. It is modernizing its military bases and airfields; deploys new coastal and anti-aircraft missile systems, upgrades submarines; increases the number of military exercises and training operations with the new Arctic Combat Command. Russia is also developing a new economic infrastructure in its Arctic territories for the development of hydrocarbons, minerals and fisheries".

Americans are concerned about China's Arctic plans: “The People's Republic of China seeks to increase its influence in the Arctic by expanding its economic, diplomatic, scientific and military activities… Over the past decade, the PRC has doubled its investment, focusing on the extraction of critical minerals; expanded its scientific activities; and used these scientific commitments to conduct dual-use research with intelligence or military applications in the Arctic. China has expanded its icebreaking fleet and sent ships to the Arctic for the first time.”.

The authors of the document express hope, that svo "may complicate Russia's economic development in the Arctic and its military modernization efforts". In my opinion, this was the reason for updating the US Arctic strategy (the previous version was dated 2013 year and in terms of military efforts was not much different from the current).

An extensive document 99 percent consists of general demagogic phrases about caring for the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, on the need to fight to reduce hydrocarbon emissions, on the sustainable development of the Arctic region, on the need for freedom of navigation, etc.. d. and so on. P. There are no specific provisions on expanding the US military presence in the Arctic.

However, due to a number of reservations, it can be concluded, what the US expects, that Russia’s investment and military capabilities will be overwhelmed by the “aggressive war in Ukraine” (so in the document) and intend to take advantage of this.

So, the new strategy talks about stepping up cooperation with Canada to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command to “improving communication and positioning capabilities, navigation and synchronization by developing a communication and data network, able to work in northern latitudes". The United States will also increase "satellite coverage of the Arctic for efficient trade and security at sea and in the air".

And all these declared measures have a purely military purpose - to ensure the completeness of intelligence about Russian military facilities in the Arctic..

Coast Guard Icebreaker Fleet [USA] will maintain a permanent U.S. presence in the Arctic and an additional presence as needed in the European Arctic.”. This passage cannot be taken seriously., since the US icebreaking fleet currently consists of only two units, of which only Polar Star - heavy icebreaker, capable of operating in arctic ice. December 2018 Admiral Paul Zukunft, head of the Coast Guard, rejected a request for an operation to ensure freedom of navigation in the Arctic, fear, that the 40-year-old Polar Star will break down and the Americans will have to ask Russia to tow it to the port for repairs.

Harsh Arctic conditions wear out Polar Star, therefore, the icebreaker goes on each voyage with an annual supply of provisions in case of a serious malfunction. According to Admiral Tsukunft, Polar Star "literally clings to life".

In Russia 40 icebreakers, and China has only two, but quite modern.

For the first time, US claims for military dominance in the Arctic were announced in Presidential Directive No. 66, signed by George W. Bush in January 2009 of the year. It said: “The United States has broad and fundamental national security interests in the Arctic region, and they are ready to defend these interests on their own, as well as in cooperation with other states. Directive stated, that freedom of the seas is a top US priority, and this directly relates to the Northern Sea Route, which "includes the straits, used for international shipping; the regime of transit passage applies to passage through these straits".

All these directives and strategies are worthless, as without a fleet of heavy icebreakers, the United States cannot resist Russia militarily in the Arctic.

In June 2019 The Pentagon presented to the US Congress a new Arctic military strategy. It noted, that melting Arctic sea ice “opens up new sea lanes and increases access to natural resources during the summer months. If warming trends continue at the current pace, decrease in Arctic sea ice could result in a nearly ice-free Arctic during the summer months by the 2040s.”. According to the Pentagon, "an era of strategic competition" has begun in the Arctic (era of strategic competition).

The new US Arctic strategy provides for the construction of new deep-water ports in Alaska, airfields and the development of "other infrastructure". It means, that for a full-fledged US military presence in the Arctic, large naval bases are needed, capable of providing year-round fleet basing. But they are not yet.

The USA has, as we wrote, two air bases in Alaska. New military installations are being built there and it is planned to place up to 10 thousands of troops. There are also two foreign Arctic military bases - Thule in northern Greenland and an airbase in Stavanger, Norway.

In June 2018 The US Congress tasked the Pentagon with building several more naval bases and ports in the Arctic, what the New Arctic Strategy indirectly mentions. At the beginning 2020 The US State Department presented the next strategy for national security and defense of the Arctic region, which provides for the creation of a “ready-made, combat-ready and available” fleet of polar icebreakers, and called for the creation of "appropriate assets and resources, able to provide a permanent presence of the United States in the Arctic and Antarctic".

9 June 2020 year, the US Congress in a special memorandum demanded, to the US to 2029 year had a modern fleet of heavy icebreakers. New American icebreakers will be equipped with modern military equipment, which will allow the use of these ships "in the interests of the US Navy, receive any intelligence information, ensure the use of weapons by other combat units and put various types of radio interference ".

However, the Americans cannot compete with us in the peaceful development of the Arctic due to the fact that, that arctic geography, as we wrote, on the side of Russia. The most serious limiting factor for the US Navy is the remoteness of the Arctic routes from US borders..

However, the Americans will put spokes in our wheels: it is impossible to establish a reliable shipping line there, where the US will start military provocations, this will scare off potential customers cleaner than Somali pirates. Besides, in the "New Arctic Strategy" the waters of the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic as a whole are declared "the property of all mankind", Russia's presence here is considered a challenge to the civilized community.

The new US Arctic strategy is powerless against geography and Russian icebreakers

So the construction of two Russian combat icebreakers of the project 23550, previously criticized, it turns out by the way. The first icebreaker of this class, Ivan Papanin, has already been launched, the launch of the second patrol icebreaker "Nikolai Zubov" is scheduled for the third quarter 2024 of the year.

The commissioning of new Russian combat icebreakers is the best response to another outburst of American hypocrisy about the Arctic.

A photo: discover24

Vladimir PROKHVATILOV

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