US Navy plots Arctic push'Roadmap' details plans to enlarge fleet in northern waters
The Ottawa Citizen: The US navy is planning a massive push into the Arctic to defend national security, potential undersea riches and other maritime interests. An 'Arctic roadmap' by the Department of the Navy details a five-year strategic plan to expand fleet operations into the North in anticipation that the frozen Arctic Ocean will be open water in summer by 2030.
While the plan talks diplomatically about 'strong partnerships' with other Arctic nations, it is clear the US is intent on seriously retooling its military presence and naval combat capabilities in a region increasingly seen as a potential flashpoint as receding polar ice allows easier access.
"This opening of the Arctic may lead to increased resource development, research, tourism, and could reshape the global transportation system. These developments offer opportunities for growth, but also are potential sources of competition and conflict for access and natural resources," says the 33-page document, signed by Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, vice-chief of Naval Operations...
If the recent surfacing of a US submarine near the North Pole left any doubt, the navy's roadmap makes it clear the US and other nations will increasingly flex military muscle in the resource-rich region, says a specialist on Canada's northern security. "The Arctic is transforming and everyone else gets it and they're not going to go away," [said] Rob Huebert, associate director at the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
But behind a public facade that promotes international Arctic co-operation, Huebert says, "If you read the document carefully you'll see a dual language, one where they're saying, 'We've got to start working together,'... and then they start saying, 'We have to get new instrumentation for our combat officers.'"...
The Norwegians and Danes have spent the last 15 years re-arming with a very combat-capable and Arctic-capable navy and air force, he said... "They're clearly understanding that the future is not nearly as nice as what all the public policy statements say." And the US, in addition to the planned naval re-armament, is to station 36 F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets -- 20 per cent of its F-22 fleet and what many consider the best overall fighter jet in the worl -- in Anchorage, Alaska.
Image: USS Annapolis on the surface of the Arctic Ocean after breaking through one metre of ice on March 21, 2009 (MC1 Tiffini, M. Jones, AFP/Getty Images); source here.
