More Winter Training Underway
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Concerned about the Arctic as a future flashpoint, the Navy and Coast Guard are working to define their new roles there. U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force-Europe 19.1 fire a TOW wire-guided missile system in Setermoen, Norway, Feb. 20, 2019, one of the first times the Corps fired the missile system while in the Arctic Circle. (Cpl. Ashley McLaughlin)
The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are working to define their new roles in the Arctic, but a few new icebreakers won’t solve their lagging capabilities to project power and deter rivals in the region, experts from the Naval War College said at a panel Wednesday.
By 2020, Russia is expected to have full radar coverage, S-400 air defense and anti-surface missile coverage, a fully operational communication network and an underwater surveillance system bridging the over 1,600 miles from the Bering Strait to the Bering Sea, right off Alaska’s coast, a professor at the Naval War College and former chief of the Norwegian Navy said at the panel.
“You need to start looking at the Arctic as it is, not what you want it to be,” said retired Norwegian Rear Adm. Lars Saunes. “And tension between NATO and Russia is increasing in the Arctic.” — Article. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/05/30/marines-sailors-and-coasties-play-catch-up-in-arctic-warfare/?utm_source=clavis
Tension between NATO and Russia/USSR has always been there, but Vlad Putin is getting bolder. The potential development of our ANWR reserves may have something to do with that.
GAZPROMBank and the International Bank of Azerbaijan recently signed a deal, and – well, who was it started GAZPROM a while back? There is still border conflict underway between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well. Azerbaijan has large reserves of oil and gas, which it is developing. https://www.azernews.az/business/151559.html
This isn’t just about the US military monitoring what Russia does in the Arctic. There is a lot of parading going on with Russia off the coast of Norway, among other things.
Our puddle pounders may be fine with winter chores such as clearing shipping lanes, but this is much more than that and they know it, and they’ll have the Navy and Marines in their company, too.
If Putin is not moving to acquire control of the Arctic itself, then what else is it? That’s a vast area for oil and gas exploration and development as well as shipping, and he knows it quite well. He seems to be on a roll here. He also likes to spook his targets, when possible.
Category: International Affairs, Russia
It’s “Ice Station Zebra” all over again.
These folks are acting under the false impression that the Arctic Ice sheet is going to disappear because of “man-made global warming”. This would make it easier to economically exploit the area.
One major problem with both the theory and the hoped-for capitalization… The trend has been for the Arctic Ice sheet to grow back thicker, covering more area, and lasting longer. That environment is going to be more hostile, not less, as we move forward into the future.
Still, we need to do what the article argues. Even if they don’t manage to economically exploit that area, Putin wants to emphasize the Arctic’s importance with resources and manpower.
The Russians excel at disinformation. Getting us to waste our greater resources on phoney “Russian threats” has been part of their bag of tricks since Lenin was still stirring the borscht.
For example: Hypersonic missiles, as a “new” threat.
They excel at disinformation, we excel at calling them out on their BS. Back in the 1980s, they talked up their abilities and took actions in different parts of the world to try to distract us and waste resources. Our satellites, better than theirs, were very good at verifying which of their claims were backed and which of their claims were nonsense. We also had a way to gather this information via human and other intelligence sources. We did the same to them, and they took us dead serious. One example of this was the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka Star Wars. I’ve been a news junkie in 1982, the Soviet Union was a big motivator in this. I remember when Ronald Reagan made a speech talking about creating an “impenetrable forcefield over the United States.” This was accompanied by graphics showing lasers doing a bunch of activities that made nuclear weapons look obsolete. In reality, our scientists knew that this was a tall order, and bringing it about was going to take forever and a day. The Soviets felt that we were going to make this a reality. All of a sudden, not only were they willing to quit cheating the treaties they had with us, they were willing to make additional concessions that would’ve been unthinkable for them to make during previous administrations. This, together with the flexing of our military muscles, slightly, accelerated the USSR’s downfall. I joined the Navy towards the end of the Cold War. It was then that I saw to what extent we knew about the Soviet Union and their capabilities… BS and actual. We know about their disinformation campaign. We know how to apply our efforts and resources. Their bragging today, regarding their capabilities, is hot air designed to hide their real fears… That our defensive missile batteries would one day be so advanced that their range would extend deep into Russia. But, movements into the Arctic isn’t exactly disinformation. The Russians are looking to expand their economic activity into the Arctic, not only to mine and extract materials and resources but also… Read more »
While we have been distracted by chasing ragheads, the other enemies of this country, with the ability to cause us problems, have not been idle.
Russia show their flag everywhere and the Chinese hitting us economically. Industrial spying, theft of trade secrets, and what about the embedded spy driving Sen DiFi around. They both know that we can’t afford to sit back and do nothing. We’re getting spread real thin.
Eternal Vigilance.