by German Polysalov
[REGNUM] Last week, NATO officially launched its new "Arctic Sentinel" mission. "Strengthening security in the region"—or rather, its systematic militarization—will be carried out under the direct supervision of the alliance's command in Norfolk.
The transfer of control to the United States clearly demonstrates that the Europeans are voluntarily handing over the keys to the region to the Americans in exchange for protection. This makes the theory that an "Arctic Sentinel" was created to curb Donald Trump's ambitions for Greenland untenable.
Moreover, there is growing evidence that the allies, despite the occasional outraged rhetoric they voice, are not only handing over the levers of control to the US, but are also expanding unimpeded access to dozens of their military facilities in the region, which interests the Americans in the context of containing Russia.
And it's not just a matter of presence: the infrastructure of allied national bases is being actively modernized to accommodate and support large concentrations of US troops.
The Pentagon's fiscal year 2026 budget includes funding for the Pituffik air base in Greenland. The installation of a new navigation system will ensure the reception of aircraft from Scandinavia and strengthen control over the air corridor used by Russian strategic aviation.
At the same time, plans are underway at Rygge Air Base in Norway to build protected aircraft shelters and expand aircraft parking areas, confirming the imminent increase in US Air Force presence and intensified reconnaissance on the approaches to the Arctic.
The Evenes Arctic base has already become a hub for P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft: Oslo financed the construction of a five-aircraft apron and maintenance hangars there. The base's infrastructure is prepared not only to accommodate national forces but also to deploy American and British anti-submarine aircraft. Each aircraft can carry up to 129 sonobuoys and is equipped with anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.
Taken together, this makes Evenes a key NATO anti-submarine warfare base in the region, aimed at countering the forces of the Russian Northern Fleet.
However, Alaska remains the primary center of US Arctic power. At Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the Pacific Air Force's largest project, costing $309 million, is nearing completion. As part of the project, the runway has been extended by 900 meters.
This, coupled with the construction of additional taxiways and aprons, removes any restrictions on the weight and type of aircraft accepted.
The scale of the engineering solutions is unprecedented: to remove obstacles to aircraft gaining altitude, builders moved 9 million cubic meters of soil, cutting away a hillock about a kilometer from the end of the runway.
Although the project is officially being covered by the needs of F-22 Raptor fighters, the excessive labor costs directly indicate that the airfield is being prepared to serve as a forward hub for strategic bombers, AWACS aircraft, refueling tanks, and signals intelligence. All this points to a rapid increase in the military presence in the Arctic.
| Si vis pacem, para bellum |
Dredging to a depth of 40 feet (12 meters) makes Nome the first U.S. Arctic base capable of providing full-fledged basing for the Coast Guard's heavy destroyers and advanced icebreakers in the future.
Contrary to popular belief about the leading role of the Navy, Air Force, and Army in the military development of the Arctic, the Coast Guard and the National Guard are the actual operators of day-to-day control here.
They will soon be the ones providing a physical presence in high latitudes and grey zones where the use of regular troops is limited by climate or political escalation risks.
Washington's ambitions for the region are underscored by an unprecedented $25 billion earmarked for funding, tucked into Donald Trump's 2025 "big, beautiful bill." The Coast Guard was the direct recipient of the funds, launching a massive rearmament program, including the purchase of 11 icebreakers.
Recognizing the shortage of its own shipbuilding capacity, the United States initiated the ICE Pact consortium with Canada and Finland. And on February 11 of this year, Helsinki officially confirmed the signing of contracts for the serial construction of icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard's role is critical for two reasons. First, the Navy's lack of icebreakers renders destroyers useless in pack ice, and the only way to ensure the Pentagon's access to high latitudes is through a program to build 11 new icebreakers by the 2030s. Second, the Coast Guard's status allows it to conduct policing operations for resources and the continental shelf without provoking immediate military escalation.
However, at its core, this is a dual-use fleet: in the event of war, the Coast Guard comes under the direct operational control of the Navy. This transforms the seemingly peaceful fleet—from heavy icebreakers to patrol boats—into additional fire platforms, fully integrated into the US Navy's unified strike command system.
In particular, the balance of power in the region could radically shift with the deployment of MK 70 containerized launchers on the decks of icebreakers or patrol vessels. This system transforms the vessel into a carrier for Tomahawk strike missiles, capable of destroying targets at ranges exceeding 1,500 km.
Given that the US has already successfully tested the MK 70 on civilian vessels, the introduction of this technology into the Arctic fleet is only a matter of time. In this architecture, the Coast Guard's peacetime "police" status serves only as a cover for the deployment of a network of mobile launchers capable of preemptively striking enemy forces in the Arctic.
The National Guard remains the logistics backbone of the strategy. Its unique 109th Airlift Wing is the only unit in the world with Lockheed LC-130 Skibird aircraft. These specialized military transport aircraft, equipped with skis and wheels, are the only means of supplying remote glacier bases.
The Alaska Guard's 176th Wing's "Search and Rescue Umbrella" completes the force's extreme environment survivability architecture. The effectiveness of this component is demonstrated by the deployment of the latest HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters, proven to operate in temperatures as low as -51°C.
However, the current dominance of the National Guard and Coast Guard in the Arctic is only the first phase of the US strategy. While the buildup of forces is proceeding covertly, under the guise of law enforcement and logistics, the Pentagon is preparing the ground for a full-scale deployment of the Navy and Air Force in the region.
Once the infrastructure being built today is put into operation, the burden of costs and operational control over the Arctic will inevitably begin to shift to regular armed forces, turning the region into a full-fledged front for a classic military confrontation.
An indicator of this transformation will be the transition of Arctic logistics from a unique niche to a basic training standard: the regular Air Force will begin mass procurement of ski landing gear kits for the C-130 and C-17, and the Navy will equip destroyers and frigates with "Arctic packages," including ice-strengthening hulls and active heating systems for decks and superstructures.
Overall, while the brunt of the US Arctic presence until the early to mid-2030s falls on the Coast Guard and the National Guard, their patrol intensity and increased funding, along with shipyard capacity for icebreaker construction, should be a priority.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the allies, unlike Russia, are experiencing serious problems with the creation of these special courts.
The systematic deployment of Coast Guard ships in the Arctic zone and the likely expansion of the National Guard's aircraft fleet are no longer police functions, but covert preparations for a theater of military operations.
For Russia, this necessitates a systemic response—from equipping its icebreaker fleet with universal containerized launch modules to strengthening coastal defenses in Chukotka and modernizing the airfield network in the Arctic zone. Such steps will directly counteract US actions.
With Washington deliberately blurring the line between civilian and military objectives, the only way to protect the Northern Sea Route remains the creation of a unified defense network. In this system, any border post or logistics hub must be ready to instantly join the country's overall defense, transforming the entire Arctic region into an impenetrable barrier to any aggressor.