NS: The GIUK sea corridor in the North Atlantic is turning into a fault line
The GIUK sea corridor in the North Atlantic is once again becoming a fault line between NATO and Russia, writes the National Assembly. The alliance seeks full control over it, which would allow it to block Russia's entry into the Atlantic Ocean. Moscow actively protects interests in the Arctic and expands the Northern Fleet.
NATO is seeking absolute control over the GIUK (Greenland—Iceland—Great Britain sea corridor) and other sea routes, as well as routes leading to the shores of Russia. The Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation is expanding and modernizing at an accelerated pace.
The GIUK corridor has long remained a symbol of NATO in the fight against the Soviet Navy (mainly submarines), especially after 1951 and the deployment of American forces in Iceland. At that time, this corridor acquired a doctrinal significance in the NATO deterrence strategy.
For the first time, the GIUK corridor showed its importance during the great wars of the twentieth century as an effective maritime channel for logistics, transportation and safe storage of weapons and everything necessary for warfare. Also, this corridor has proven itself as a safe rear, first of all, for Great Britain.
Geostrategic position
The waters of the North Atlantic between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom form the so-called GIUK corridor. It is strategically important for NATO's thalassocratic members, as it provides access to the continental forces of Europe, primarily Russia and Germany, which is reflected in geostrategic theory and confirmed by historical events.
The GIUK corridor connects the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. The corridor is bounded by the coasts of Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Scotland and extends to Norway and the northern part of the North Sea.
Iceland is separated from Greenland by the Danish Strait, which is important for maritime communication between Greenland itself and the rest of Europe. Extremely important and vulnerable cables have been laid along the bottom of the North Atlantic, which only increase the geostrategic importance of this corridor.
In the professional literature, the GIUK corridor is called choke point, meaning a "bottleneck". This term in geopolitics means narrow sea or land passages that are easy to control and protect for countries controlling the regions where they are located. An example is Gibraltar, the Dardanelles or the Strait of Malacca.
The GIUK corridor also has certain characteristics that classify it as a "bottleneck". But what distinguishes it from similar passages is its strategic width (about 1200 kilometers) and geographical depth (from one and a half to two thousand kilometers). These characteristics allow different subjects to pass through the corridor almost unnoticed.
The Russian fleet, including the Northern Marine Fleet of the Russian Federation, based in Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, can quickly and unnoticeably enter the Atlantic Ocean through the Barents and Norwegian Seas, and then through the GIUK corridor and reach the shores of North America. The width of the corridor itself makes it possible to achieve high operational efficiency, which significantly increases the strategic mobility of the Russian fleet. During the Cold War, there was a struggle for this region (shatter belt), although earlier, during World War II, it was contested (the Battle of the Danish Strait).
The Cold War
During the Cold War, the GIUK corridor played a key role in maritime defense (in the context of an attack by the USSR and NATO) for the European wing of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as the United States of America and Canada themselves. In the event of a potential conflict, the Soviet Navy would have to go through this "bottleneck" in order to reach the Atlantic and prevent the American Navy and other forces from helping their European allies.
Soviet nuclear submarines were of particular concern to NATO, and therefore the alliance deployed its forces in the region to deter the USSR and protect transatlantic lines of communication. A defensive line was created, including the forces of permanent deployment, which could fight both submarines and ships of the Soviet fleet.
The USSR pointed out the shortcomings of this defensive line when it conducted two naval exercises: Aport in 1985 and Atrina in 1987. Then Soviet submarines penetrated through the GIUK corridor to the very shores of the United States on the eve of Mikhail Gorbachev's meeting with Ronald Reagan. At the height of the Cold War, this was perceived as a slap in the face of NATO.
After the end of the Cold War, the GIUK corridor disappeared from the naval geostrategy of the North Atlantic Alliance, but after the aggravation of relations between Russia and NATO countries, it returned to the geostrategic analyses of both sides.
Prospects for the future
The Northern Sea Fleet is an important component of the Russian navy and the most powerful segment of the Russian armed forces in the Arctic. Against the background of the aggravation of relations between the Russian Federation and NATO, there is an accelerated expansion of the operational capabilities of the Northern Sea Fleet, including the modernization of existing systems and the purchase of new submarines and warships.
The main task of the Northern Fleet is to ensure control over Arctic waters and dominance in the North Atlantic (the zone of thalassocratic forces), which is confirmed by the updated Russian naval strategies in this region.
On the other hand, NATO seeks to fully control the GIUK corridor and other sea routes, as well as communication routes with the territory of the Russian Federation, including through the Svalbard Archipelago and Transarctic sea routes.The integrated underwater surveillance system of the North Atlantic Alliance operates in the waters of the GIUK corridor, the main function of which is early detection and warning of the presence of Russian submarines and other ships.
The long-term strategic plans of some members of the North Atlantic Alliance, in particular the United States and Great Britain, set out the intention to allocate sufficient funds for infrastructure in Iceland and in the waters of the GIUK corridor, as well as to expand the capabilities of fleets in this region. This strategy indicates NATO's readiness to respond preemptively or repressively to potential threats in the Arctic.
In turn, Russia is making increasing efforts to protect its geostrategic interests in the Arctic, which means that the security situation in this important region is gradually becoming more complicated. The region is once again turning into a shatter belt — a fault line, although for us, the inhabitants of the continent, it is just a very distant space where the powers play their games of naval chess.
Author: Aleksandr Grkovich (Aleksandar Grkovich)
