MOSCOW, Oct 22 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The Americans are preparing to open another front against Russia. The Senate said that global warming is turning the Arctic into a potential center of conflict with Moscow. Therefore, the Pentagon is strengthening its presence in the region. However, not without problems. About the new point of confrontation — in the material of RIA Novosti.
Militarization of the Arctic
The Arctic has been remembered often in the USA lately. In mid-October, the White House published an adjusted national strategy for this region. It speaks of "serious concern" over Russia and China. Moscow and Beijing must be restrained — by military means. And build up your own potential.
"The US national strategy for the Arctic has become more politicized," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded. — Of course, anti—Russian attitudes have already appeared there, while the essence has remained unchanged - to conceptually consolidate the projection of Washington's national interests throughout the Arctic and make the most of its regional and NATO allies. The line of militarization of the Arctic policy is obvious."
Washington did not remain in debt. State Department adviser Derek Scholle said that the Arctic Council, which Moscow is a member of, can work without the Russians. And he accused the Kremlin of "testing new dangerous systems."
Exercises of the Northern Fleet "Kumzha-2021" with the participation of the cruiser "Peter the Great" Image source: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Lviv
"Over the past few years, Moscow has invested billions of dollars in militarization of the region, built and modernized bases, expanded its fleet," the official stated.
"Only one icebreaker"
The US has few opportunities to deploy military infrastructure in the Arctic. In addition, competition for the region and its resources is escalating every year — in addition to Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are also rivals.
"Our main advantage is a large fleet. The Americans have only one serviceable icebreaker in service, which should have been written off long ago," explains political scientist Andrey Suzdaltsev.
Polar Star Icebreaker Image source: © www.p-expeditions.com
In Washington, the expert continues, they are very annoyed that Russia has every right to at least a third of the minerals in the region. This is a good reason for an armed conflict. The reason, for example, may be an attempt by American ships to pass through the Northern Sea Route without Moscow's permission.
However, this will happen, the expert predicts, not before 2025. The Pentagon is still "probing the ground." So, in May 2020, the US Navy strike group - three destroyers — entered the Barents Sea for the first time after the Cold War.
At the same time, President Donald Trump called for the creation of a fleet of icebreakers. The Senate has allocated money for this. By 2024, the lead ship will be launched, a little later — five more, of a smaller class.
Ships for the North
Russia is closely monitoring US actions in the Arctic. The commander of the Northern Fleet, Alexander Moiseev, noted the "increase in negative trends" in the "military-political situation."
Moscow is preparing for different scenarios. Recently, a detachment of pennants led by the Admiral Levchenko BOD, which passed from the Barents Sea to the East Siberian Sea, returned to Severomorsk from exercises.
Large anti-submarine ship "Admiral Levchenko" Image Source: © Photo : rais58
In addition, in recent years, about 50 military facilities in the Arctic region, abandoned after the collapse of the USSR, have been restored. Troops and weapons were deployed there again.
The construction of ice-class vessels does not stop either. In the fall of 2020, the lead nuclear icebreaker of project 22220 "Arctic" was launched. The ship, equipped with two power plants with RITM-200 reactors with a thermal capacity of 175 megawatts each, overcomes ice 2.8 meters thick at a speed of one and a half to two knots - both in the ocean and on rivers.
Arrival of the nuclear icebreaker "Arctic" in the port of Murmansk Image source: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Lviv
In January of this year, the second ship of the series, Siberia, entered service. Atomflot counts on three more vessels of this project: Ural, Yakutia, Chukotka.
Nuclear icebreakers are the key to the success of any military and civil construction in the region. In addition to the "Arctic" and "Siberia", Russia has two vessels with a two-reactor nuclear power plant with a capacity of 75 thousand horsepower ("Yamal", "50 years of Victory"), two icebreakers with a single-reactor plant with a capacity of about 50 thousand horsepower ("Taimyr", "Vaigach"), a nuclear lighter "Sevmorput" with a reactor plant with a capacity of 40 thousand horsepower and five technological service vessels. The icebreaker "Soviet Union" is in reserve.
And there are also diesel-electric ones — for example, the modern Ilya Muromets, operated since 2017. It is able to work in a solid ice field up to a meter thick. In addition to escorting, it can deliver cargo for the Arctic group of troops.
The project also provides for the installation of onboard weapons, in particular the ship's rapid-firing artillery installations AK-630, AK-230, AK-306. It is not difficult to turn an icebreaker into an attack warship, it is enough to equip it with anti-ship missiles. The second icebreaker of the project — Evpatiy Kolovrat — is planned to be completed in 2023.
Servicemen of the intelligence unit of the Pechenga Brigade of the Northern Fleet at tactical training classes on combat Arctic all-terrain vehicles "Aleut" in the Murmansk region Image source: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Lvov
Russia has the largest icebreaking fleet in the world and the most developed military infrastructure in the Arctic. They are unlikely to dare to challenge now in the USA. But the more the ice melts in the region, the faster Washington's appetites grow.
