The United States' national security in the Arctic is threatened by a “hostile presence” of other players in the region. This was stated by the head of the Northern Command of the US Armed Forces, General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, speaking to the committee of the House of Representatives for the Armed Forces.
“The Arctic has ceased to be a fortress wall, and the oceans no longer serve as protective ditches,” the Pentagon website quotes the general. “They have become ways of approaching our homeland, as evidenced by the increasing hostile presence in the Arctic.”
As O'Shaughnessy noted, Washington’s opponents want to exploit the “weaknesses” of the United States.
“The behavior shown by them speaks of their capabilities, abilities and intention to threaten the security of our homeland without crossing the nuclear threshold,” said the head of command.
At the same time, he added that in order to defend its interests in the Arctic zone, Washington should be engaged in the development of new weapons systems, since it is impossible to "protect the country from the threats of the 21st century using the technologies of the 20th century." As an example of such innovations, O'Shaughnessy talked about the creation of the Strategic Home and Integrated Ecosystem for Layered Defense, SHIELD.
“Our multi-level defense system should provide situational awareness in all environments: from the depths of the ocean to space heights, including invisible cyberspace, in every environment we are at risk,” the military leader said, adding that the military in the Arctic should be able to deploy “destructive mechanisms” capable of neutralizing advanced weapon systems of the enemy. "
- Pentagon
- Flickr
Military-technical lag
It is worth noting that earlier in America more than once declared a military-technical lag in the Arctic.
As the chairman of the lower house of the US Congress subcommittee on shipping and maritime security, Lou Correa, said in late February, Washington considers it “its duty” to protect the state’s economic interests in the Arctic region. However, according to him, the United States Coast Guard, which deals with this, does not have the necessary resources, in particular, a sufficient number of icebreakers.
Experts recall that the United States has only one operating heavy-class icebreaker - the 1976 Polar Star. According to the corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences, political scientist Sergei Sudakov, in order to begin to defend its position in the region, the United States can not do without a new icebreaker fleet.
“To catch up with this area, they will need a fairly long time. In addition, we are talking about tens of billions of dollars. At the same time, the results should be shown quickly, no one is going to wait for Washington, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.
Sudakov recalled that the United States "at one time stopped many programs for the development of Arctic technologies."
“They felt that they simply didn’t need it, and now they’re dismantling the consequences of such decisions. In particular, the USA does not have time to form a full-fledged contingent, which could be in the Arctic, having been late for at least 15 years, ”the analyst said.
The military expert Vasily Kashin also believes that the United States will need “a lot of time” to “develop and debug” the “Shield” system, which was announced by the American general.
“This is a comprehensive system for collecting and processing intelligence using artificial intelligence to monitor the activity of potential opponents in all environments. The goal of such a system is to reduce the flow of information from different sources into a single one, ”the analyst explained in an interview with RT, while emphasizing that work on the creation of such technologies is already underway throughout the world and there is nothing extraordinary in this.
According to Kashin, this is "an obvious and generally accepted direction in the development of military construction."
In turn, the head of the department of international organizations and world political processes at the Moscow State University’s Faculty of World Politics, Andrei Sidorov, said in an interview with RT that the American military commander is trying to “achieve additional funding” with statements about the need to implement such tracking systems in the Arctic.
Key region
According to analysts, speaking of "strengthening the hostile presence in the Arctic," O'Shaughnessy primarily refers to the activities of Russia and China in the region, although they are not explicitly indicated in the statement.
Experts recalled that a similar idea is contained in the previously adopted US Coast Guard Arctic Strategy, which states that Moscow and Beijing threaten Washington’s interests in the region.
“Due to the fact that Russia and China around the world constantly question the international rule-based order, there are fears that they will likewise hinder the maintenance of peaceful stability in the Arctic,” the text says.
- Submarine USS Hampton US Navy
- © US Department of Defense
As Sergey Sudakov noted, US statements about the “hostile presence” of other countries in the Arctic and Washington’s security threat are “politically motivated”. According to him, Russia in this region "acts exclusively for defense, protecting its national interests."
As the analyst explained, the population of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation exceeds 2 million people - this is more than 50% of the total population of the world Arctic. In addition, the Arctic coast is the largest coastal zone of the Russian Federation, which is rich in oil and gas and biological resources.
“You need to understand that the Arctic region is key in terms of the formation of not only the concept of security, but also the formation of economic flows in general. Russia now oversees the Northern Sea Route, which will provide a cheap way to deliver goods from Asia, ”the analyst explained.
According to Andrei Sidorov, Washington is trying in every way to prevent Russia from realizing the economic potential of the Arctic territories.
“The USA is a maritime power, and control over trade routes and sea lanes is extremely important for it. And the opening of the Northern Sea Route reduces the chances of the American side to own the situation, ”the expert said.
“Will not affect the position of Russia”
Analysts recall that in order to increase their presence in the Arctic, the United States conducts military exercises together with its allies.
So, in February and March, the US-Canadian Arctic Edge exercises - 2020 were held in Alaska. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) were involved in the maneuvers.
In addition, on March 2, in the north of Norway, large-scale military exercises of the NATO Cold Response countries started, in which about 14 thousand military personnel, including from the United States, took part. The maneuvers were supposed to last until March 18, but it was decided to complete them ahead of schedule in connection with the spread of coronavirus infection.
- Arctic Edge 2020 exercises
- © US Marine Corps
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, at the end of December, the United States increased the activity of its Navy in the Chukotka region. This was announced by Mikhail Bilichenko, chief of staff of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces in the north-east, on the air of the Zvezda television channel.
According to the commander, the activity of the American armed forces was noticeable before, however, it was part of the daily operational combat training.
“Now the composition of the groupings is increasing, including the landing of amphibious assault forces,” Bilichenko emphasized.
However, analysts emphasize that the activation of the United States in the Arctic will in no way “affect Russia's position” in this region. According to experts, the US side is “significantly inferior” to the Russian Federation in the development of Arctic technologies and the composition of the military contingent.
As stated earlier by the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, the Russian Federation considers it a priority to protect its national interests in the Arctic region, since it has become the object of the “territorial, resource and military-strategic interests of several states.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the foundations of state policy in the Arctic until 2035. As noted in the document, as of 2020, Russia has created a group of general forces in the Arctic region that can provide military security, as well as an actively functioning coast guard system of the Federal Security Service.
Prior to this, the Russian leader said that in 15 years Russia will have more than 13 heavy icebreakers.
“Three new nuclear icebreakers are being built in St. Petersburg: the Arctic, Siberia and the Urals. In total, by 2035, the Russian Arctic fleet will have at least 13 heavy linear icebreakers, including nine nuclear icebreakers, ”the Russian leader said.
As Sergei Sudakov emphasized, Russia now has "serious potential and a competitive advantage in the Arctic."
“The Russian Federation has the most powerful icebreaker fleet in the world, with dozens of icebreakers of various classes and new ones. Russia is actively developing other Arctic technologies, in particular, creating floating technical bases, ”the analyst concluded.