Arctic War Official Thread

Its only a matter of time before heads collide over the issue of resources and sovereignty in the melting regions of the arctic.





Russia was the first to stake its claim in this great Arctic gold rush, in 2001. Moscow submitted a claim to the United Nations for 460,000 square miles of resource-rich Arctic waters, an area roughly the size of the states of California, Indiana, and Texas combined. The UN rejected this ambitious annexation, but last August the Kremlin nevertheless dispatched a nuclear-powered icebreaker and two submarines to plant its flag on the North Pole's sea floor. Days later, the Russians provocatively ordered strategic bomber flights over the Arctic Ocean for the first time since the Cold War.

Not to be outdone, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced funding for new Arctic naval patrol vessels, a new deep-water port, and a cold-weather training center along the Northwest Passage. Denmark and Norway, which control Greenland and the Svalbard Islands, respectively, are also anxious to establish their claims. Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, said that Canada would open a new army training centre for cold-weather fighting at Resolute Bay, and a deep-water port at Nanisivik, on the northern tip of Baffin Island. The country is also beefing up its military presence in the far North with 900 Rangers. Mr Harper announced that six to eight new navy patrol ships would be built to guard the Northwest Passage sea route in the Arctic. Canada intends to create a 500-strong Army unit - four companies of 120 troops apiece - for Far North operations

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, head of the Russian military’s combat training directorate, told the news agency RIA Novosti that Moscow is preparing to “increase the operational radius of the Northern Fleet’s submarines” and otherwise amplify the activity of Russia’s armed forces in the Arctic.“We have a number of highly professional military units in the Leningrad, Siberian and Far Eastern military districts, which are specifically trained for combat in Arctic regions,” Shamanov was quoted as saying. Russia would create new border guard facilities and modernize nearby airfields, said Popov, the former chief commander of the Northern Fleet. Russia does not envisage creating either a new Military District or opening new bases, but it sets out a case for reinforcing the Federal Security Service (FSB) controlled Border Troops by establishing a coast guard service to patrol Russia's Arctic borders.

The Danish government announced that it would expand its permanent military presence in the Arctic. The plans involve the establishment of a regional joint-service command in the Faroe Islands, in the North Sea, and the expansion of an existing military base in Greenland.

On July 14, 2008, the Russian Navy announced that its fleet has "resumed a warship presence in the Arctic." These Arctic naval patrols include the area of the Spitsbergen archipelago that belongs to Norway, a NATO member. Russia refuses to recognize Norway's right to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone around Spitsbergen. Russia deployed an anti-subma­rine warfare destroyer followed by a guided-missile cruiser armed with 16 long-range anti-ship cruise missiles designed to destroy aircraft carriers.

Norway revealed that it was moving it Operational Command Headquarters from the south of the nation at Stavanger north to Reitan outside Bodo, "thus making Norway the first country to move its military command leadership to the Arctic." Four Scandinavian countries together with Iceland could form a Nordic military alliance to protect their interests in the Arctic.

The United States has Thule Air Base in Northern Greenland, its northern most base. Based there is the 821st Air Base Group. Alaskan Command (ALCOM) is a military command of the United States armed forces located in state of Alaska. ALCOM combined forces include more than 16,000 Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard personnel, and 3,700 guardsmen and reservists.

This thread is to be constantly updated with any new developments relating to this topic, discussion of when, where and who might come out the winner in the event of such a war and so forth anything related to this topic. should be very interesting to see what happens..

[edit on 24-8-2009 by TheCoffinman]

[edit on 24-8-2009 by TheCoffinman]

If you're going to try and start an ongoing thread on this topic I would suggest you reformat your first post to make it a bit more reader friendly. The use of paragraphs and double spacing would be a great help.

Originally posted by Estharik
If you're going to try and start an ongoing thread on this topic I would suggest you reformat your first post to make it a bit more reader friendly. The use of paragraphs and double spacing would be a great help.

I agree 100% I was thinking the same thing as I read the OP
But I'll add...
Great post Coffinman!
s&f&sub

I too am keeping an i on this.

maps.google.com...,-29.179687&spn=93.775609,315.351563&z =2

This is a map ive been working on today showing the current military situation in the arctic. Every Major Unit assigned to or stationed in the Arctic is shown. Russian, American, Norwegian, Danish and Canadian Forces...

[edit on 24-8-2009 by TheCoffinman]