Russia is developing a powerful new Arctic military force. According to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes A new Russian Arctic command will include four new Arctic brigades, 50 airfields by 2020, increased long-range air patrols by Russian bombers and a total of 40 conventional and nuclear icebreakers, with 11 more planned.
The BBC reports that Russia is developing a new naval infrastructure in the region. In addition to a new air defense base on Sredniy Island, five island bases are being built by 1,500 workers – at Alexandra Land, Rogachevo, Cape Schmidt, Wrangel and Kotelny.
During the summer, according to Defense News, Russia launched military exercises in the region that included over 1,000 soldiers, 14 aircraft and 34 special military units.
Nations are taking note. International Business Times reports that Norway, a NATO member, in response to the Russian military buildup, is building its Arctic defense.
“Our neighbor in the east has built up its military capacity, also in areas close to us,’ said Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen of Norway’s navy. ‘They have shown that they are willing to use military force to achieve political ambitions.’ The publication notes that ‘Other European countries also have embarked on modernizing their defense capabilities amid uncertainty over Russia. Poland has begun a military modernization program at a cost of more than $35 billion. Poland and Sweden signed a military cooperation agreement in September that also cited Russian military fears. Sweden said it had increased its own military spending by 11 percent.”
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In light of all this, it is strange that the United States is considering weakening its tiny presence in the region even further.
According to Stars and Stripes, the Army’s only extreme-cold weather airborne brigade, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, “is slated to be cut under the Army’s plan to trim its force to 450,000 soldiers by 2017, a decision that would eliminate 59 percent of the Army personnel assigned there… If the brigade is cut, the military will lose one of its critical Arctic and Pacific rapid response assets, which has raised questions whether this is the right time to reduce this capability. Since 2010, the Army has seen its budget shrink from $144 billion to a requested $126 billion for 2016. In the same time, the Army reduced its force from 566,000 in 2010 to 490,000 in 2015, according to Defense Department figures… The brigade isn’t only the sole extreme cold weather brigade in the Army; it’s also the Army’s only airborne brigade in U.S. Pacific Command. The unit can reach most places to conduct a forced entry in the Pacific, and some European locations, in nine hours or less.”
In a letter to the Pentagon submitted by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Senator Dan Sullivan and Rep, Don Young, the three Alaska congressional members noted that “In Cold-War Like fashion, Russia has dramatically increased its Arctic-based military presence, creating a new Northern Command, reopening numerous foreign Soviet air and sea bases, building new ice breakers, and forming four new combat brigades in the Arctic. In fact, according to testimony given earlier this year by Admiral William Gortney, commander of U.S. Northern Command, ‘Russian heavy bombers flew more out-of-area patrols in 2014 than at any time since the Cold War.’ Further, Russia recently launched a massive, five-day Arctic training event, involving 38,000 servicemen, more than 50 ships and submarines, and 110 aircraft. Taken as a whole, we are greatly concerned about Russian show of military force and we believe that the United states must begin to rapidly bolster our Arctic capabilities and force structure.”
Other than calling for the acquisition of several additional icebreakers, the White House attitude towards the region continues to be that expressed in its 2013 Arctic Strategy document: “The Arctic region is peaceful, stable, and free of conflict.”