The Pentagon released an updated Arctic strategy warning of low-level Russian “destabilizing” activities in the Far North aimed at the U.S., Canada and their allies.
The 18-page assessment, released earlier this week, also noted increased naval cooperation in the region between Moscow and Beijing, promising expanded allied military exercises, the introduction of new technologies and greater cooperation with NATO.
According to the report, sabotage activities in the Arctic could include Russia jamming Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.
“Of concern, Russian capabilities in the Arctic could endanger the territories of our allies and partners as well as the continental United States,” the strategy states.
“Russia seeks to conduct low-level destabilizing activities against the United States and its allies in the Arctic through nuclear, conventional and special operations threats, as well as global positioning system jamming and military overflights conducted in an unprofessional manner that violates international law and practice.”
The strategy points out that the quickest way to attack the United States with a long-range missile is through the Arctic, a point made several times by soon-to-be-outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Speaking in Ottawa, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he would work to ensure that all allies, including Canada, met a defense spending threshold of two percent of GDP.
“Russia continues to invest heavily in building new military infrastructure and upgrading Soviet-era facilities in the Arctic,” the strategy document states.
“While Russia’s conventional ground forces have been somewhat depleted by losses in Ukraine, its strategic, air, and naval forces remain intact. Moreover, Russia has demonstrated an ability to reorganize and realign its conventional ground forces, which indicates the potential for improved future readiness and combat expertise in the Arctic.”
The strategy was announced the same week that U.S. and Canadian air force fighter jets intercepted several Russian and Chinese bombers in international airspace near the coast of Alaska.
Two Russian Tu-95 fighter jets and two Chinese H-6 fighter jets entered an area known as the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement late Wednesday.
NORAD said in a statement that the aircraft was “detected, tracked and intercepted. The aircraft remained within the Alaskan ADIZ but did not enter US airspace.”
The bombers were intercepted by U.S. F-16 and F-35 fighter jets and supporting aircraft including Canadian CF-18 fighter jets, U.S. defense officials said.
Experts say they may be practicing for a potential collision
Canadian defence experts said the updated strategy was notable in several ways, including the public debate over GPS jamming, which several European countries that border Russia, including Finland, Estonia and Poland, began complaining about last spring.
Rob Hubert, interim director of the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, said sabotage in the Arctic is an escalation from what has been seen in the past and should be of major concern to Canada from a commercial aviation perspective.
GPS is a key navigation tool for airlines. The satellite-based system has replaced expensive ground-based equipment that sends out radio beams to guide planes to their destinations.
Last May, Russia is suspected of launching an unprecedented 63-hour attack on GPS signals across the Baltic Sea region, affecting hundreds of passenger aircraft.
Given that Russia has developed hypersonic missiles and used them in the Ukraine war, these are weapons systems that could be launched towards North America in the event of a major conflict, so sabotage efforts over the Far North would make sense, if they were carried out.
“They may be conducting training exercises” in case of conflict, Hubert said in an interview.
“Suddenly, you see the logic that’s being developed to blind Americans to whatever they do.”
Strengthening China-Russia cooperation
The Pentagon strategy notes that China and Russia are stepping up cooperation in the Arctic on multiple fronts, including through joint naval exercises.
Earlier this month, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel on a routine patrol in the Bering Sea encountered several Chinese warships in international waters within what the U.S. claims as its exclusive economic zone.
Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and Russian Navy vessels also conducted joint exercises off the coast of Alaska in 2022 and 2023.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the sidelines of a recent NATO summit, a senior US lawmaker noted that Washington is paying increased attention to the Far North and is aware of potential threats there.
“Quite frankly, from a military perspective, in my view, the Arctic used to be a strategic frontier from a Department of Defense perspective. Nobody really paid much attention to it,” said Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hubert said that increased interest is clearly reflected in the Defence Department’s new strategy, but what’s interesting is that it mentions and appears to rely more on NATO allies than in the past, perhaps at the expense of Canada.
Canada has pledged to spend billions more on defense in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but even that increase will not meet NATO’s target of 2% of GDP.
Hubert said the strategy “clearly demonstrates that Americans have finally come to understand how dangerous the Arctic is to North American security interests.”
Hubert said one of the things most of the US documents to date had emphasized was “cooperation” with NORAD.
“If you look at the document, it talks about security relations with NATO. It talks about security relations with the Nordic countries. The mention of Canada is almost… an aside.”
The U.S. strategy calls for increased surveillance of the Arctic, including Canadian territory.
Climate change could affect the military
The Liberal government recently introduced an updated defense strategy that focuses on the Far North and highlights plans to invest in a refurbished NORAD and the introduction of underwater surveillance sensors.
At the NATO summit, the United States, Canada and Finland announced plans to partner to build large icebreakers.
The Pentagon’s strategy took into account the impacts of climate change in the region and noted how warming will affect the military’s ability to operate there.
The U.S. defense strategy states that “weather variability can affect the performance of warfighters and equipment.”
“Maintaining dispersed forces and operations in remote areas is even more challenging amid changing Arctic conditions. The Arctic may experience its first virtually ice-free summer by 2030, and reduced sea ice will increase the potential for access to Arctic shipping routes and undersea resources.”
