Russia is engaging in new and extremely worrisome activities in the Arctic. According to The NATO Association’s Aleksi Korpela “…the erection of military bases and deployment of forces rings ominous to contiguous states and those with Arctic possessions or interests. This issue has become especially controversial in the last few years, as Russia has expanded its military infrastructure following the creation of a new strategic district: the Arctic Joint Strategic Command (OSK) … …Russia’s most important maritime asset in the Arctic is its fleet of icebreakers, which is the largest in the world.”
A Daily Mail report has disclosed that Moscow has just unveiled another addition to its overwhelming Arctic military infrastructure on Alexander Land on the Franz Josef Archipelago. The facility can host nuclear-capable war planes and 150 troops. Russian bombers and fighter aircraft have recently come threateningly close to Alaska, and have traveled close to U.S. shores. (Basing arrangements with Nicaragua provide the Kremlin with the ability to engage in this activity without having to make round-trip return to Russia.) According to the Daily Mail, “Officials have said they may deploy military jets there. MiG-31 fighters, …or the SU-34, a frontline bomber are seen as options…[Moscow’s new bases] will, in some areas, give Moscow more military capabilities than the Soviet Union once had.”
Mark Galeotti has written in the Moscow Times that “Russia is using Extortion in the Arctic… Russia’s icebreaker fleet is a particular ‘ice-power’ asset: It is the world’s largest and includes the massive nuclear-powered vessel 50 Years of Victory… This is all very impressive, but it begs the question of just what these forces are meant to do. Bombers cannot dig for oil, infantry cannot collect taxes from passing Chinese container ships. But they can board and occupy oil rigs, seize cargo ships and threaten any forces that seek to challenge Moscow’s right to do this. After all, it may be impossible to ‘occupy’ the Arctic, but Russia is developing assets that could deny it to anyone else.”
In 2015, the military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported that a new Russian Arctic command was under development, including 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. That same year, the BBC reported that Russia was developing a new naval infrastructure in the region. In addition to a new air defense base on Sredniy Island, five island bases were being built by 1,500 workers – at Alexandra Land, Rogachevo, Cape Schmidt, Wrangel and Kotelny. During that year’s summer months, according to Defense News, Russia launched military exercises in the region that included over 1,000 soldiers, 14 aircraft and 34 special military units.
This was occurring as the United States was reducing its military spending under the Obama Administration. 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.’ Russia also launched a massive, five-day Arctic training event, involving 38,000 servicemen, more than 50 ships and submarines, and 110 aircraft.”
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry , Moscow has claimed approximately 1.2 million square kilometers of the Arctic, 350 nautical miles from the coast. The areas include the Lomonosov Ridge, Mendeleev-Alpha Rise and Chukchi Plateau.
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Moscow’s military aircraft have flown provocatively close to Arctic-area territories belonging to NATO members.
According to Russia Direct, “Russia’s claims on …vast swaths of territory in the Arctic are reinforced by its ability to project force in the region. Its fleet of several dozens of icebreakers, including nuclear, as compared to America’s six icebreakers, [only one of which is truly Arctic-capable] gives Russia an economic and military advantage in the Arctic. The Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in charge of the defense industry, Dmitry Rogozin, stated that Russia has already launched the construction of a new nuclear icebreaker fleet and that three units will start their operations by 2017, 2019 and 2020, respectively.”
The Arctic is a vital area both for strategic and economic purposes. It is believed to possess a quarter of the planet’s energy supplies.
In addition to gaining a significant military advantage, Putin is seeking to gain access to the wealth of resources in the Arctic region. Business Insider notes: “In order to capitalize on the oil and gas under the Arctic seabed…Moscow is undertaking a major military upgrade of its northern coast and outlying archipelagos…In total, Moscow’s plans involve the opening of ten Arctic search-and-rescue stations, 16 deep-water ports, 13 airfields, and 10 air-defense radar stations across its Arctic periphery.”
Newsweek describes the situation as “ a new kind of geopolitical cold war, and the U.S. is in danger of losing. ‘We’re not even in the same league as Russia right now,’ Coast Guard Commandant Paul F. Zukunft says. ‘We’re not playing in this game at all.’ In the Arctic, the only way to move around on the surface of the sea in even thinner summer ice—to do search and rescue, lead other naval or commercial ships, or conduct heavy research—is often on icebreakers. The U.S. has only two, both old and ‘there’s no money for new icebreakers,’ reports Fran Ulmer, chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. Ulmer says an icebreaker can cost up to a billion dollars, and ‘it takes years to get one built.’ Russia operates 27 icebreakers, and China, which is not an Arctic nation but has aspirations in the area, will have two by next year.”