Arctic rush

max steel wrote: Pentagon Expands Military Capabilities in Arctic  


A Government Accountability Office report says that the US Department of Defense is stepping up its military capabilities for increased activities in the Arctic Ocean region.


[The Department of Defense] has taken actions, along with interagency partners, to address some near-term capabilities needed in the Arctic, such as maritime domain awareness and communications,” the report, released on Friday, said.

The report outlines the increased military deployments in terms of their missions capabilities.

“[The Department of Defense] continues to monitor the security environment in the region and is tracking indicators that could change its threat assessment and affect [its] future role,” the report said.

The GAO noted that the Defense Department’s Implementation Plan to the National Strategy for the Arctic Region created a framework and identified activities to address many of the needed capabilities.

“[A]s the lead agency for Arctic sea ice forecasting, [the Defense Department] has established an interagency team to focus on improved sea ice modeling,” the report stated.

The GAO explained that the US Navy's Arctic Roadmap document includes “an implementation plan and timeline for operations and training, facilities, equipment, and maritime domain awareness, among other capabilities.”

Moreover, the US Northern Command is updating the Commander's Estimate for the Arctic with “near-, mid- and long-term goals,” the report noted.
The Northern Command is also “conducting studies of various Arctic mission areas, such as maritime homeland defense and undersea surveillance, to identify future capability needs,” it said.

The Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the US federal government spends taxpayer dollars.


http://sputniknews.com/military/20150620/1023614034.html#ixzz3ddZe5Ml7

Oh my, they expanded their communications in the Arctic. What an epic accomplishment. How many bases did they build? None.

This story is about the US regime staging yap theater about how it is "countering the Russian threat". Russia is the one being threatened
by the US and its minions. You will note how in none of the western media reports on the Arctic oil reserves is the fact that that over
80% of them are within Russia's EEZ is ever mentioned. And I am using the US Geological Survey report as the reference. The sedimentary
rock shelf off Siberia is where the oil and gas deposits are and not in the metamorphosed sedimentary rock spanning most of the Arctic
Ocean basin. Aside from the Beaufort Sea area both the US and Canada have no oil and gas reserves in the Arctic (due to geology). But
you would think that Russia is claiming "their" oil and gas.

New BMD-4M may be used for landing in the Arctic

The latest fighting vehicle BMD-4M, which will go into service of the Russian Airborne Troops, can be used for landing in the Arctic, Deputy Commander of the Airborne Troops, Lieutenant-General Alexey Ragozin said on Thursday.

“I think that our reliable machine (BMD-4M) will get its landing equipment, and in the future it will certainly be able to be used for landing in the area of the central Arctic,” Rogozin said.

In May 2015, the commander of the Russian Airborne Troops Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov said that public testing of BMD-4M has been completed. According to him, in 2015 the Airborne Troops will get more than 30 of these machines.

research expedition Kara-Zima 2015 , special report


photos
http://se.sputniknews.com/foto/20150617/320664.html

Nice

Russian Air Force: Russia will strengthen the air defense system in the Arctic

Russia to Double Military Troops on Novaya Zemlya in Arctic by 2020

Russian troop grouping on Novaya Zemlya Island will be doubled by 2020, according to the statement of source.Russia will double its military might on its Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic by 2020, a source in the Russian military told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"Today, an increase in Arctic groupings of troops and equipment is underway in Russia’s Central Range [on Novaya Zemlya] and according to our plans, troop groupings will be doubled by 2020," the source said

The Arctic is considered to be a major source of hydrocarbons, minerals, fresh water and fish. The region's resources are a matter of interest for countries bordering the area, including Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway, and Denmark.

In 2013, Moscow announced a strategy to increase its presence in the Arctic and to boost the region's development by 2020. Since then, Russia has been particularly active in exploring opportunities in the region.

In December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a revised military doctrine for the country, under which it is planned to build a unified network of military facilities in Russia's Arctic territories to host troops, warships and aircraft, as part of an effort to strengthen border defense in the region.


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US Coast Guard chief: We are 'not even in the same league as Russia' in the Arctic


Moscow has undertaken a construction blitz across the Arctic to establish military superiority in the region. Russia is constructing ten Arctic search-and-rescue stations, 16 deepwater ports, 13 airfields, and ten air-defense radar stations across its Arctic coast.

Arctic armored “Toros” can be equipped with thermal imager and learn to resist “Javelin”

The fighting vehicle of fire support and maintenance “Toros” created in Murom, which has a chance to enter the Russian Arctic arms brigades, may become even deadlier.

Presented at the International Forum “Army 2015″ sample was equipped with a combined sight TKN-4GA. In the “day” mode it can be used to detect targets at ranges up to 5,500 m, and at night – up to 1500 m.

The sight TKN-4GA-03 enhances the range of parameters of vision and precise shooting object 1.5-2 times with respect to the serial products, regardless of ambient light level, time of day, season and weather conditions, the characteristics of the combat situation on the ground, using only passive mode.




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Arctic brigade of the Northern Fleet received first batch of ATVs

The first batch of seven army ATV AM-1 entered into service at Arctic Motorized Brigade of the Northern Fleet. After receiving the new technology experts of the compounds produced its assembly and run-in, the press service of the Northern Fleet said.

The contract servicemen, who have considerable experience of operating motor vehicles and driver’s license appropriate category, will manage army ATV.
Such mobile appliances with high cross are intended for conducting reconnaissance and patrol operations, offshore and search and rescue operations in different environments, including the Arctic ones. Last year, two ATVs were tested in the polar latitudes on the island and peninsula Boiler fishing.

A year ago it was just a tiny scale model.... they grow up so fast



http://www.sdelanounas.ru/blogs/68123/

Russian Arctic shelf recoverable reserves reach 447 Mt of oil, 10 trillion cub m. of gas

Russian scientific expedition has made some 20 geographical discoveries near the Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya archipelagos in Russia’s Arctic

Russian military collect 3,600 tons of metal scrap during Arctic islands cleanup

Nice

The latest Russian radar early warning system laid down in the Arctic, said the FSI Russian

Arctic Militarization ‘Moot Point’ - NORAD Commander

US head of Northern Command and Commander of NORAD Admiral William Gortney said that the Arctic has already been militarized by both the United States and Russia as an area of mutual strategic interest.

The Arctic has already been militarized by both the United States and Russia as an area of mutual strategic interest, US head of Northern Command and Commander of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) Admiral William Gortney said.

"I think we already have militarized the Arctic," Gortney stated at the Atlantic Council on Wednesday.

Responding to a question on Russian military activity in the region, Gortney said the issue of militarizing the Arctic "is a moot point."
Gortney, who is also the Department of Defense’s chief advocate for the Arctic, noted that both the United States and Russia have ballistic missile submarines already patrolling the Arctic.

It is possible, however, for the Arctic became a "flash point" of conflict, Gortney said.

NORAD is tasked with controlling the aerospace warning systems to defend the North American continent. The warning system includes detection and validation of attacks by aircraft and missiles from space.

Northern Command is charged with overseeing land, air and sea-based security with other national partners on the North American continent.



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U.S. Is Playing Catch-Up With Russia in Scramble for the Arctic

Discovery of new Arctic islands adds territory of five Monaco principalities to Russia


Russian expedition discovers new lands in Arctic

Similar news, in English, from RT

https://www.rt.com/news/318427-arctic-science-russia-expedition/

As if Russia weren’t already the biggest country in the world, it now appears to have added some land. No, no referendum has been held this time – a Russian Arctic naval expedition has discovered nine new (uninhabited) islands and islets.

A total of some 10 square kilometers has been added. That’s five Monacos or 20 Vaticans.

The biggest island discovered is 2 kilometers in length and 600 meters across – 26 times bigger than the latest island found in the Arctic, a Russian Northern Fleet official said, according to TASS news agency.

Altogether, the 41-day scientific naval expedition discovered nine islands and islets, five straits, seven capes and four harbors. The ships Senezh and Plashkout covered about 10,000 kilometers.

It became possible to discover new geographical territories in the well-explored Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya archipelagos due to the warming of the Arctic, which is causing the ice to melt. Many glaciers are retreating, revealing new islands which were earlier hidden. Glaciers have retreated on average by 2-5 kilometers since 1952, scientists say.

Siberian scientists design drone for extreme Arctic climate

The unmanned aeral vehicle can operate at temperatures ranging from minus 40 to plus 45 degrees Celcius.Scientists of the Omsk State Technical University have created an unmanned aircraft for the work in the extreme conditions of the Arctic region, head of the university’s Experimental Design Bureau Small Unmanned Vehicles Pavel Pogarsky told TASS on Tuesday.

"This is the third generation of UAVs, which can operate in temperatures ranging from minus 40 to plus 45 degrees with wind up to 15 meters per second, in rain and snow," Pogarsky said. Its operating range grew to 100 kilometers, flight time is 3,5 hours, flight ceiling is 5,000 meters and speed is 120 kilometers per hour.

Photo report about building new Arctic base, loads of pictures!!!

I posted some on media tread before but there is plenty of fresh ones here...

http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/69569/

Does anyone know what this spherical structure is for? I know it is not radar housing, too much metal and has interior frame...

I haven't kept up, but read this today and found it interesting!

ARCTIC VOICE No. 11, 27 November 1996
RUSSIAN NAVAL OFFICERS AND GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORATION IN NORTHERN RUSSIA (18TH THROUGH 20TH CENTURIES)
By Leonid Sverdlov, Member of the Russian Geographic Society

http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/russianexplor.html

Russian Arctic Military Base on Alexandra Land in the Franz Josef Archipelago

sepheronx wrote:

Militarov wrote:

Russian Arctic Military Base on Alexandra Land in the Franz Josef Archipelago

I think that would be a pretty cool base to be stationed on.  It would probably get boring after a while, but still.

I can literally spend months inside For me personally wouldnt be the problem.

The US Coast Guard Is (Quietly) Building Up Allies in the Arctic

The United States Coast Guard announced Friday the creation of a new international forum for cooperation in the Arctic. Signed at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the new Arctic Coast Guard Forum will include coast guards or similar agencies from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States.

“Today’s historic Arctic Coast Guard Forum represents a critical step forward in our collective efforts to promote safety, security and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic,” said Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft. “As the ocean becomes more accessible to human activity, all Arctic nations have committed to enhancing maritime cooperation in this remote and challenging environment.”

The forum complements the Arctic Council, and several groups focused on Arctic business development, as nations seek to increase operations, ensure safety and security, and address common challenges in the rapidly changing region. While the Arctic Council provides a forum for high level diplomatic cooperation on Arctic issues, the Arctic Coast Guard Forum will be an operational entity to leverage collective resources and coordinate communications, operational plans, and on-the-water activity.

An Effective Model for Cooperation

This latest agreement is modeled on the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum and the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum formed in 2000 and 2007. Meeting regularly, these forerunners share strategies, conduct exercises, and coordinate operations to leverage limited resources and bring each nation’s jurisdiction to bear on transnational threats.

At the latest Pacific forum in September, representatives discussed rules of behavior when their forces operate in proximity, adopted voluntary guidelines for combined operations to guide patrols, and planned for a multi-national, multi-mission exercise. Past efforts include joint ship patrols to combat illegal high seas driftnet fishing, planning for oil spills, and security assessments.

The Changing Arctic Environment

The new forum comes as steadily melting Arctic ice is opening more water to seasonal maritime traffic, natural resource usage, and other activity. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which monitors the annual summer ice melt in the Arctic, reported that 2015 had the fourth lowest extent of ice since monitoring began in 1979 and sea ice declined 13.4 percent per decade between 1981 and 2010.

“What we have seen this summer reinforces our conclusions that Arctic sea ice extent is in a long-term decline and that we are headed for a seasonally ice-free ocean,” said NSIDC director Mark Serreze. Since scientists began monitoring Arctic ice coverage with satellites, the nine lowest years for summer ice extent were from 2007 to 2015.

The results of this melting include increased shipping, resource exploration, and adventure tourism. This includes Royal Dutch Shell’s exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean in 2012 and 2015, an 118 percent increase in maritime transits in the Bering Strait between 2008 and 2012, and plans for a cruise ship with 1,700 on board to sail next year from Alaska, through the Northwest Passage, to Greenland and New York. And this increase in activity is expected to continue.

Lack of U.S. Capability

Coast Guard officials and others have long warned the U.S. government does not have the equipment or infrastructure needed to respond to emergencies, enforce the U.S. exclusive economic zone, or achieve other national objectives in a more heavily traversed Arctic. The Coast Guard’s Arctic Strategy describes the operational challenges to include vast distances, extreme weather, and limited infrastructure. The closest U.S. deep water port to Barrow, Alaska, the main population center, is more than 1,100 miles away in Dutch Harbor and there are only two small commercial airports in the U.S. Arctic at Barrow and Deadhorse, Alaska.

Other challenges include poor radio propagation, partial satellite coverage, geomagnetic interference with navigation equipment, and limited cellular networks.

During a trip to the region in September, President Obama responded to both capability shortfalls and a lack of knowledge about the region when he announced a proposal to accelerate the building of a Coast Guard icebreaker, a new ocean charting and coastline mapping program, and additional science efforts.

This plan is welcomed but likely only a down payment on future U.S. needs. The White House announcement compared Russia’s forty current and eleven planned icebreakers to the two operational polar icebreakers of the United States. A 2011 study of Coast Guard ice breaking requirements found the service requires between six and ten icebreakers to meet U.S. needs for polar access.

And while breakers are important for access to ice laden waters, they are not the only need. Fort Wainwright, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the U.S. military air field closest to the Arctic, is more than five hundred miles from the Barrow. The closest Coast Guard air station is nearly one thousand miles away in Kodiak, Alaska. Gaps in command and control, vessel tracking and other assets will also limit the ability of the United States to provide maritime safety, security and environmental protection in the region. The Obama administration’s National Strategy for the Arctic Region recognizes this when it states that it will “intelligently evolve our Arctic infrastructure and capabilities.”

Benefits of the Arctic Coast Guard Forum

Through its on-the-water focus, the new forum will improve the ability of the Coast Guard and other signatories to enable safe and secure maritime activity in the Arctic, particularly given current and medium-term resource gaps. Of note, it also represents an opportunity for the eight Arctic countries to engage in a formal dialogue on security interests that is prohibited by the Arctic Council charter.

The forum’s emphasis on cooperation promotes American desires to keep the region free from conflict, and the inclusion of Russia is an important detail. The signing of the agreement was reportedly delayed eighteen months due to Canadian objections of Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Despite concerns with Russian actions in Europe and the Middle East, and the pending claims of Arctic seabed by member nations, the Arctic Coast Guard Forum allows a dialogue with Russia on common issues even while relations are strained elsewhere.