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United States defence officials are increasingly anxious about the Arctic becoming an overlooked military theatre and potential approach vector.
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Climate change is warming the Arctic and modern policy has not kept pace with the region’s strategic value, according to information published by the US Department of Defense on 5 April.
The US Department of Defense’s current Arctic strategy was released in June 2019 and is reportedly undergoing updating through the Pentagon. The US Defense Department also announced the creation of a new Arctic strategy and global resilience office late last year.
“There’s been so much change happening in the last 10 to 20 years with climate change driving increased activity, geopolitical change, also technological change (in the Arctic),” said Iris Ferguson, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Arctic strategy and global resilience, during an address to a Far North strategy panel discussion at the Sea-Air-Space conference on 3 April.
“(The warming trend is) allowing our adversaries (to) have greater presence and access to the region.
“There’s a sense that we, in the Pentagon, also need to be thinking more proactively about what we need to operate in the theatre, how we work closely with our allies and partners.
“The sense that the Arctic is stable is changing, it’s becoming increasingly unstable. So now, how (do) we collectively work together to ensure deterrence and how (do) we work together to ensure stability long term.”
The US and Canada have previously established the North American Aerospace Defense Command to detect aircraft and missiles flying over the region, however, there are concerns that a warming climate could open new trade passages, exploration, industrial or settlement capable areas.
“The strategic gets tactical really quick (in the Arctic). It’s a matter of life and death,” Ferguson said.
“You can’t go and talk about strategies without talking about some of the real tactical requirements of operating there. I think that’s one of the most telling things I find about working this issue.”
The topic of Arctic strategy was also brought up during homeland defence testimony during a US House Panel on 8 March this year. During that discussion, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, Melissa Dalton, said climate change is opening up the Arctic and the US requires a national strategy for the Arctic region.
There have already been at least eight military exercises held in the Arctic this year, according to data from the CSIS Arctic Military Activity Tracker.
Retired Air Force Major General Randy Kee, the senior adviser for Arctic Security Affairs at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, said the centre is focusing on Arctic defence education, research and collaboration with US allies and partners in the Arctic.
“America has rising interest in the Arctic region,” he said during the Navy League’s 2023 Sea-Air-Space Conference and Exposition in Washington.
“We’re honoured to help contribute to the integrated deterrence of really protecting, defending, and securing our national interests in the Arctic region and in complement to those of our allies and partners.”
