The United States is "woefully far behind" Russia and China in terms of the size of the icebreaker fleet. US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas complained about the lack of icebreakers, TASS reports.
According to him, Washington does not pay enough attention to the strategy in the Arctic and how critically important this region of the world is, which is currently becoming increasingly important. The minister said that the United States has only two aging icebreakers, while Moscow and Beijing have several dozen similar ships.
In addition, the head of the department said that the administration of US President Joe Biden is working on a budget request to reduce the number of icebreakers. "We are outpaced and outnumbered in resources in terms of our capabilities in the Arctic," Mayorkas summed up.
Earlier, Deputy Chief of the logistics staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Andrey Yefimov said that five icebreakers will be built in Russia until 2033 for the auxiliary fleet of the Navy. According to him, the new ships will expand the capabilities of the fleet to supply the regions of the Far North.
Marina Sovina
