How Russia is fortifying the Arctic

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How Russia is fortifying the Arctic

Two weeks ago, in the quiet of an Arctic ice field, something unusual happened: A 360-foot-long nuclear submarine broke through the thick ice and surfaced. The USS Hartford, part of the Atlantic Fleet, pushed through the ice, its conning tower standing like a black monument in a vast landscape of blinding white.

It wasn’t alone. Nearly two dozen U.S. military personnel, parachuted and flown in by helicopter from bases in Alaska, were waiting for the Hartford to make its grand entrance. The entire scene was part of ICEX 2016, or Ice Exercise 2016, designed to prepare the U.S. military to fight north of the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic has traditionally been a low military priority for everyone. Its climate, particularly during the winter, makes it unfriendly to human life. The prevalence of ice and lack of dry land makes stationing forces there difficult. Military outposts are generally limited to arctic research, early warning, and meteorological stations.

Generally speaking, it’s not worth fighting over.

Global warming is changing that. Rising temperatures are contributing to a decline in Arctic sea ice. Less ice means previously unreachable resources — particularly oil and natural gas — can now be accessed and a new ice-free Arctic shipping route servicing the northern hemisphere appears downright likely.

Nobody is sure what riches lie under the freezing waters, but the U.S. Department of Energy estimates 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil — or 90 billion barrels — lies waiting under the Arctic. That’s enough to keep the entirety of human civilization chugging along for 2.5 years. The DoE also estimates the Arctic holds 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas.

Under international law all countries have exclusive use of the resources in and under the ocean within 200 miles of their territory. A Norwegian island just a mile wide, for example, would grant Norway all the resources within a 200-mile radius. Similarly, the continental shelf extending from dry land into the ocean grants the country occupying it resources underneath.

Only a handful of countries have direct claims to Arctic territories. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States all have land north of the Arctic Circle. Even China is also trying to get in the game, but its quest for influence in the region has been hobbled by the fact that it doesn’t actually have any territory there.

Russia is staking its claim to the Arctic and is being more than a little unreasonable about it. In 2007 Russian robotic submarines planted the national flag under the North Pole. Russia claims the North Pole on the grounds that the Lomonosov Ridge, an extension of Russia’s continental shelf territory, passes underneath the pole.

Russia is preparing to back its claims up, too: As of 2015, it had established six new bases north of the Arctic Circle, including 16 deepwater ports and 13 airfields. Russia has deployed advanced S-400 long-range surface-to-air missiles, as well as “Bastion” supersonic anti-ship missiles, to protect Arctic bases. The vastness of the Arctic means these weapons don’t threaten other countries, but they do create fortified bases that will allow Russia to springboard ships, planes, and Arctic-trained troops into contested territory……More Here

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