Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commander of the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division, spoke with reporters Monday about the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center training exercise that took place from Feb. 8 through Feb. 22 across the state.

It’s been three years since the Army started its Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center rotations in Alaska, and Eifler said this was the largest and most complex version of the training so far.

A Mongolian Armed Forces infantry company and 600 Canadian troops, 350 from the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, 165 from the Royal Canadian Air Force and 100 from various support forces, participated alongside U.S. forces. Other partner nations such as Sweden, Finland and South Korea sent forces to work with staff sections of U.S. units.

Another 18 nations sent observers to the exercise, Eifler said of the growing exercise.

The Army released its Arctic Strategy in 2021. In June 2022, the service reactivated the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska to oversee and grow Arctic-focused forces and training to counter increasing militarization of the region by Russian and Chinese military forces.

The 1st Brigade, 11th Airborne Division, served as the “blue force” fighting over the two weeks against two battalions of the 2nd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division, which served as the enemy force.

Both units ran their field operations but were joined by simulated brigades. Eifler and his team were able to fight an entire division in the exercise using simulated forces alongside real soldiers, he said.

The 2nd Brigade was given about five times the number of rockets, artillery and ammunition to battle 1st Brigade. The “enemy” brigade also had air defense, communication jamming and electronic warfare tools.

That extra firepower meant that blue force fire units had to pick their targets wisely, shoot quickly and move rapidly to avoid enemy counterfires, Eifler said.

The enemy air defense challenged the blue force to create attack windows and push realistic approaches to a near-peer adversary that controlled the sky.

A standard airborne or air assault mission would easily be detected in that scenario, he said. Which meant division aviators had to strike first.

“We did a 150-mile deep attach with our Apache division while avoiding air defense emitters that we put out,” Eifler said. “They had to duck and weave over those 150 miles close to the terrain to get to the target and destroy it and get back safely.”

Deep strike

That was the first and longest such deep strike of that distance since the rotations began, Eifler said.

Once the strike had its effect, the blue force brigade flew a more than 80-mile air assault using 15 aircraft, including Chinooks and Black Hawks, he said.

On the ground, soldiers used the five new cold-weather, all-terrain vehicles, or CATV, during the exercise, which Eifler said performed well and allowed soldiers to maneuver over various snow, mud and water-logged terrain. Temperatures fluctuated from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 40 F

BAE Systems won the $278 million contract to produce the cold-weather, all-terrain vehicle for the Army in 2022. At the time the service planned to purchase 163 of them to replace its decades-old small unit support vehicle.

The cold-weather, all-terrain vehicle is a tracked vehicle that can carry nine soldiers and equipment.

At the same time, 1st Brigade dispatched soldier teams on snowmobiles armed with Javelin missile launchers to navigate off-road and knock out enemy tanks and vehicles.

“One of our standing orders is to stay off the road when you’re fighting in harsh weather because the roads and trails are like the enemy’s engagement areas,” Eifler said. “We’re always saying ‘if your traveling is easy, you’re running into danger. And if it’s very hard and difficult to move you’re winning.’”

In the airwaves, the enemy force jammed digital communications that, at times, forced commanders to dispatch those same CATVs and snowmobiles to hand-deliver orders to battalions and other units.

The unforgiving cold

Eifler stressed that soldiers operating in the Arctic need to simultaneously keep their high-tech gear running but be ready to go “manual or mechanical” to get the job done.

The unforgiving cold can paralyze some systems and drain batteries in minutes, not hours.

As part of the exercise, soldiers used a C-130 cargo plane to fly a high mobility artillery rocket system more than 500 miles to Utqiagvik, Alaska ― a city on the northernmost reaches of the state and above the Arctic Circle.

Eifler’s blue force also had to contend with smaller, but still challenging threats.

The enemy force used small drone swarms of a dozen or fewer drones used to detect unit positions. They even “armed” some of the small drones with tennis balls and Nerf footballs to drop onto locations, showing soldiers they could be hit by ordnance they weren’t tracking.

During the two-week exercise, Eifler said soldiers tested 40 different types of equipment, from communications gear and vehicles to tents, skis and boots.

The two-star said that in the future the force likely will need more snowmobiles for the types of missions used in this exercise as well as casualty evacuation and basic mobility.

Early observations include a need for a better tent system that can fit into a rucksack and improved ski bindings to withstand the extreme cold temperatures, he said.

The Tenders Electronic Daily, an online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union that details public procurement efforts on the continent, published last month a detailed contract notice for the purchase of NATO Class 1 small unmanned aerial systems as well as sustainment, support and training. This category of drones generally refers to tactical unit systems weighing more than 15 kilograms (33 pounds).

The main components of the order will consist of a minimum of three drones capable of vertically taking off and landing without the need for a separate system, such as launchers or parachutes. Each drone should feature a synthetic aperture radar and a primary sensor package. The order would also include two ground control stations and all necessary ground equipment.

During the assessment phase, the Defence Ministry will consider as the most important factors the specific drone category and the lowest temperature at which the system can operate and land. The value of the initial purchases are expected to be about $107 million, and the tender will close March 23.

Other outlined technical capabilities include:

• An on-station time — the ability to maintain an observation position — of at least 8 hours at a range of 90 kilometers (56 miles).
• The ability to take off at a temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).
• The ability to continue an in-flight mission, including landing, in conditions of minus 40 degrees Celsius.
• The ability to launch and land on ships.
• The ability to fit in two 10-foot International Organization for Standardization containers for storage.

The drones are intended primarily for national and international ISR missions. Additionally, the online documents stated that each drone is “to be operated from a total of two trucks with ISO containers, making it possible for operators to continually operate one UAV while moving the ground control station from which the drone is operated.”

The Danish military has wanted to increase its unmanned capabilities for several years, specifically to monitor Arctic regions. In 2020, Denmark announced its intention to procure drones, but that notice was terminated. A report from Tenders Electronic Daily shows the decision was made after the Defence Ministry noticed the planned acquisition did not take into account operational needs for the country’s defense.

Denmark previously experimented with several types of smaller drones, but has never possessed larger systems such as the MQ-9 Reaper. Platforms of that size tend to be more costly than smaller variants and require greater infrastructure to operate. As the country has territorial claims in areas around the Faroe Islands and the north of Greenland covering parts of the North Pole, there are few land-based structures from which large drones can land and launch; this could be why the country prefers vertical-takeoff-and-landing platforms.

In 2007, it acquired 12 Raven B small drones from AeroVironment, on which the country relied during operations in Afghanistan. In 2012, Denmark replaced them with Puma AE drones, also produced by the American company, but they were larger and can loiter for longer durations. The country currently does not possess armed variants.

Today, climate change is an inextricable part of the operational environment. Extreme weather events are increasingly threatening military installations and adding additional stress points to operational readiness and supply chains that support critical operations. Disappearing Arctic ice is opening up new vectors for maritime confrontations. Fossil fuel dependencies are pressuring military supply lines and complicating forward operations in remote environments.

Climate change is also impacting the human considerations that drive conflict. Shrinking fresh water supplies are already causing friction between neighboring nations that share common waterways. Similarly, many countries threatened by drought, flooding and rising sea levels are as concerned about climate change as they are about other security threats.

Militaries around the world — including the United States — are awakening to this new reality and are investing in efforts to prepare for, adapt to and mitigate the climate crisis. But in order to succeed in future conflicts, militaries must look beyond merely making bases and equipment more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Adversaries are already experimenting with using climate in small slices of their offensive operations through climate-themed information operations. To avoid being left behind, the most forward-thinking militaries should begin to see the opportunities of embedding climate into every facet of their operations, including strategic and operational planning.

Doing so requires a significant mindset shift. And to institutionalize this mindset shift and seize the advantage of climate-forward defense, the U.S. military should adjust how it:

• Trains: To augment the U.S. Defense Department’s ongoing climate literacy efforts, war games should include climate-related themes to allow senior leaders to hone skills in identifying where climate change could present strategic opportunities.
• Plans: Revise “Joint Publication 5-0, Joint Planning” to consider climate in all operational assessments. The DoD can also bring an added climate lens to its planning and operations efforts by substantively incorporating climate into its planning doctrine.
• Buys: Military-specific climate needs can help uncover new innovations, but only if they are identified. As a result, climate impact should be a key consideration in the requirements process to help capture those military needs.

Ultimately, this mindset shift moves the military from seeing climate change purely as a constraint to work around, and instead to seeing it as an opportunity to maximize operational advantages. Moreover, if climate implications are embraced as mission overmatch opportunities, they can compete with other mission parameters — like range and payload — and help catalyze the next wave of innovation.

Just as GPS was developed to solve a purely military problem, yet went on to create entire commercial industries, the DoD has a similar opportunity with climate technology. Fielding corrosion-resistant materials or denser, lighter energy storage will not only directly benefit troops in the field, but also catalyze economic growth, which research has shown supports long-term military effectiveness.

By shifting its mindset to see climate change as a critical strategic opportunity and adopting a climate-forward mentality, the military has a significant opportunity to improve both its readiness and its combat effectiveness. Relatively inexpensive changes to processes and training can create a pathway to improve military effectiveness, overcome adversaries and achieve battlefield success for years to come.

Ruthie Fetscher, a principal at the consultancy Deloitte, helps lead energy resilience, climate adaptation and infrastructure modernization strategies and implementation efforts for clients, including the U.S. Defense Department. Josh Sawislak, a managing director at Deloitte, helps lead sustainability and climate adaptation efforts.

Have an opinion?

This article is an Op-Ed and the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please email C4ISRNET and Federal Times Senior Managing Editor Cary O’Reilly.

These repeated tests of American resolve so close to our shores should set off alarm bells in Washington. Our two greatest adversaries, China and Russia, are now cooperating on the high seas to challenge our presence in the region.

Chinese and Russian attempts to gain superiority in the Arctic are not new. In 2015, five Chinese vessels marked President Barack Obama’s visit to the Bering Sea with battle drills off the Alaskan coast. Russia has long maintained a strong military presence in the Arctic, even after the end of the Cold War.

What is different now, however, is that our rivals’ power projection in the polar regions is outpacing our own. As a self-described “near-Arctic power,” China has been working to build a “Polar Silk Road” of economic and military infrastructure across the Arctic. Meanwhile, Russia is developing its already-formidable capabilities to disrupt freedom of navigation and U.S. operations.

If China and Russia reach their goals, the Arctic will emerge as a central theater in our respective competitions. Alaska is a vital location for monitoring Chinese and Russian missile forces. The Arctic’s natural characteristics also make it ripe for space launch, reconnaissance, and energy resource capture. Losing the upper hand in the Arctic could result in our exclusion from the region militarily and economically — an ominous prospect, given the trajectory of American relations with Russia and China.

The United States has already been caught flat-footed, as we have invested relatively little in our Arctic forces. For example, the combined icebreaker fleets of our adversaries outpace ours by more than 25 to 1.

U.S. leaders simply have not met the Arctic challenge, and we are only beginning to confront this reality now. In recent months, the Biden Administration has created new posts at the Pentagon and State Department to address Arctic security. And more recently, the White House rolled out a comprehensive political-military strategy for the Arctic, which includes a call for a greater military presence in the region.

Our core challenge, however, is that the U.S. defense industrial base will essentially be starting from scratch to field these capabilities. Decades of low investment in icebreakers from the federal government has left U.S. shipbuilders unprepared to service even the best defense strategy. Today, only one shipyard in the United States is building polar icebreakers, and we are set to add just three of these crucial ships by 2030. Without sustained investment in these capabilities, there is little hope of maintaining long-term U.S. power in the region.

Congress has worked to authorize funding for a twelfth national security cutter in this year’s defense bill, but much more needs to be done. We need to expand the icebreaker program and substantially increase the budget for U.S. Northern Command, which would give planners the tools they need to navigate this unstable strategic environment.

Russia and China’s latest target, Kiska Island, became known during World War II as one of few U.S. territories ever to be occupied by a foreign nation. Japanese control of the island came to an end in 1943 when Adm. Chester W. Nimitz and his cruisers expelled the Japanese. Since then, U.S. forces have continued a proud tradition of Arctic operations, including the first deployment of a nuclear submarine in 1954.

It appears Kiska — and indeed the United States — is once again coming under threat from a Pacific power. The moment demands that we unleash the full might of our defense industrial base to secure our foothold in the Arctic. As the proverbial winter with China and Russia comes, we should prepare ourselves to weather it.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He also serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Have an opinion?

This article is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please email us.

Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? Subscribe to get our Commentary & Opinion newsletter once a week.

Starting early this year, the Pentagon also tasked them with sending, so far, $800 million worth of gear, such as cold weather apparel and a variety of other warfighting items, to Ukrainians beating back the Russian invasion of their homeland.

Army Times spoke with the office’s commanding general and a host of its gear experts about a list of major programs.

Joint Effects Targeting System

Maj. Joe Gooch, JETS assistant product manager, showed off the precision targeting tool that now gives forward observers the chance to pack this device in a ruck and operate in solo mode. The JETS has a range of cameras and includes a laser marker, and a precision vertical angle module that contains a series of gyroscopes to detect the spin and curvature of the earth. The laser marker works with the Army’s precision guidance kits, added in recent years to 155 mm rounds and about any other laser-guided round in the inventory.

Coming in at 19.6 pounds and bringing a 72-hour mission battery life, the system has already been delivered to 161 units to date, including the entire 75th Ranger Regiment and two of three brigades at the 82nd Airborne Division in the past year, Gooch said. The next 44 systems are headed to an undisclosed brigade at the 101st Airborne Division in February.

Mostly, the JETS will replace the legacy LLDR2H, a crew-served system too heavy for one soldier that is being phased out over time. The JETS II prototype is under development. Plans include shaving another two pounds or more off the device and switching its navigation software to the congressionally mandated M-code, a military-grade, global positioning system. That system is under draft requests for prototypes, with an anticipated April 2023 award to build the early versions. JETS II could be available to units by 2027, officials said.

Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular

The first standard Army-issued binocular night vision has been rolling out to formations for a couple of years now. The ENVG-B is the “best in class” night vision. Basically, it isn’t your old grainy monocular night vision.

The ENVG-B kicked off with a directed requirement, essentially a request approved by big Army to get these things in the hands of soldiers quicker than standard routes. That request sought 10,262 systems. So far, the Army has delivered 9,500 systems and will begin the final batch of deliveries in November, with the 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade, said Maj. Bobby Lee, ENVG-B assistant product manager.

Once the last of the total seven brigades has received these goggles, it will transition to a program of record, meaning it’s sticking around and available when funds are approved to many other Army units, but mostly for close combat formations like infantry, scouts and combat engineers.

The device is more than night vision, though. It also has a thermal camera, giving the user multiple options to see what goes bump in the night. And it has wireless connectivity that can connect to a weapon’s sight view in the display, and pipe in situational awareness info such as navigation waypoints and team member locations. Running all those programs can put battery life at about four hours, but tests on standard night vision use show up to 40 hours in field trials, Lee said.

A prototype recharging battery is tripling and, in some cases, quadrupling existing battery use to reach that 40-hour mark.

Nett Warrior

A version of Nett Warrior has been helping soldiers navigate for nearly a decade, but newly issued devices will see an upgrade when they get the Samsung S20 tactical smartphone version. The older versions used the Samsung 7.

The device powers Team Awareness Kit or TAK, with maps, overlays and other situational awareness tools.

The new S20s are going to 2nd and 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, and 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, currently, said Maj. Steve Moody, Nett Warrior assistant product manager.

Modular Scalable Vest

For decades, soldiers with nonstandard body sizes, tall and lanky or short and stocky or female soldiers in need of a better fit had to deal with bulky, oversized life protection.

The Army designed and in recent years began fielding the Modular Scalable Vest to tackle both size discrepancies for comfort, performance and safety, and to give soldiers more options for body armor use.

Early models went to the Security Force Assistance Brigades, Army Times previously reported. That was due in part to their nonstandard missions and quick deployments shortly after the units formed.

But more than 6,000 MSVs went to the 82nd Airborne Division in 2021. And that sample has taught the builders of the MSV, now in version 2.6, a few lessons.

Capt. Kim Pierre-Zamora, body armor team assistant product manager, told Army Times that most soldiers go down one size from what they wore in the legacy Improved Outer Tactical Vest.

And they have more options now. On top of the standard sizes, such as medium-regular, three alternate sizes are now available — extra small-short, small-short and small-long.

The vests fit better and give wearers options to scale up or down their protection. The system starts with a soft ballistic combat shirt and layers up protection from there. The shirt works for leader engagements where full body armor might not be appropriate.

Extensive studies show body armor developers that reducing the size to protect vital organs in the torso and adding in a shooter’s cut to better place a rifle in the shoulder helped performance and safety, experts said.

Old IOTVs have not been forgotten.

The Army will repurpose many of the plates in a kind of recycling program. The plates will be cut to the same dimensions as new plates and used in the MSV carrier system.

Next-Generation Integrated Head Protection System

New manufacturing approaches have eliminated holes in the combat helmet, the Next Generation IHPS, that were previously used to attach gear, such as night vision goggles.

That cuts out potential ballistic vulnerabilities, said Capt. Brad McPherson, assistant product manager, head protection team.

Also, the extra outer applique that users formerly had to add to the old IHPS is no longer needed with the next generation version, which is now nearly finished with deliveries.

The Army has sent more than 120,000 NG IHPS out the door.

New gear for aircrews

Old aircrew gear got the job done but sacrificed a bit in comfort and usability.

Maj. Jeffery Timmick, assistant product manager for air soldier systems, told Army Times that a redesigned aircrew helmet, combat equipment and aircrew-specific Nett Warrior tablet should smooth out some of those kinks.

The rotary wing helmet has the same outer shell as its predecessor, but designers pushed the fit forward, which gives the user a 7-degree wider view. The same helmet now has integrated speakers with external microphones, so users don’t have to remove the helmet to hear over the thump-thump of helicopter blades when outside the aircraft.

A new retention strap reduces wiggle and allowed some of the balancing weight to be removed from the back of the helmet, cutting down neck fatigue. About half, or nearly 7,000, helmets have been fielded so far to aviation brigades over the past five years.

The primary survival gear that aircrew soldiers wear has gotten an upgrade too. The flotation device is now down around the armpits instead of near the neck. That gives crews more mobility, Timmick said. The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade out of Hawaii is wrapping up an operational assessment of the new design.

The new design also fits with the Modular Scalable Vest, so aircrew soldiers don’t have to carry a separate body armor and gear carriage system. The harness straps are still there but removable, so once out of the aircraft they don’t dangle and drag on the ground.

A Samsung tablet will replace the Apple device previously in use. That new device will be compatible with existing Samsung tablets and smartphones using the Team Awareness Kit. That way, aircrews can walk into a Tactical Operations Center and seamlessly share data.

Researchers at Combat Capabilities Development Command are also looking at a potential onboard Wi-Fi so that air crews and passengers can share data in the sky.

Cold Temperature Arctic Protection Systems

A lot of the cold weather gear most soldiers used in recent decades was designed and fielded long before they were born.

But new additions to the winter lineup should help soldiers stay warm and dry in even the most extreme weather.

Maj. Ryan Ogden, soldier clothing individual equipment assistant product manager, told Army Times that the CTAPS system is readying a large-scale Limited User Test with the 11th Airborne Corps in Alaska this coming winter.

Those soldiers will have a five-layer system at their disposal which includes a next-to-skin “no melt, no drip” wool-nylon blend.

That blend remains warm even when wet. Whether soldiers are sweating or took a quick ice bath, this should heat them up.

The lightweight hooded and vented insulated jacket uses a metalized coated fabric with aerogel insulation. And it feels a lot like a “woobie” jacket, Army Times noted.

Ogden said the jacket was a “soldier favorite” in early testing.

The third layer includes soft shell uniform tops and bottoms. Layer four is a cold and wet top and bottom for heavy rain and wind.

The fifth and final layer is an outer “extreme condition” layer — think, North Pole excursions. That’s a cold weather parka and trousers with large, glove-accommodating pockets. The hood is also big enough to fit a helmet and associated devices. The trousers have expanded gussets for adjusting over bulky outer wear and body armor.

The new strategy identifies four pillars including an enhanced U.S. military presence, increased exercises with partner countries to “deter aggression in the Arctic, especially from Russia,” NORAD air defense modernization and additional Coast Guard icebreakers, as well as better mapping and charting of the region’s waters and weather.

“The United States will enhance and exercise both our military and civilian capabilities in the Arctic as required to deter threats and to anticipate, prevent, and respond to both natural and human-made incidents,” the security section of the strategy states. “We will deepen cooperation with Arctic Allies and partners in support of these objectives and to manage risks of further militarization or unintended conflict, including those resulting from geopolitical tensions with Russia.”

Russia has reopened and modernized hundreds of Soviet-era military bases in the region since the U.S. released its last 10-year Arctic strategy in 2013. The new strategy notes that Moscow is “deploying new coastal and air defense missile systems and upgraded submarines; and increasing military exercises and raining operations with a new combatant command equivalent for the Arctic.”

It also notes that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated tensions in the region, rendering “government-to-government cooperation with Russia in the Arctic virtually impossible.” The strategy leave the door open for such cooperation to “resume cooperation under certain conditions” but predicts that this is “unlikely for the foreseeable future, it said.

China has declared itself a “near-Arctic” state and announced its intentions to build a “Polar Silk Road” in the region. The White House strategy notes that China “seeks to increase its influence in the Arctic through an expanded slate of economic, diplomatic, scientific and military activities.”

“Over the last decade, the [People’s Republic of China] has doubled its investments, with a focus on critical mineral extraction; expanded its scientific activities; and used these scientific engagements to conduct dual-use research with intelligence or military applications in the Arctic,” the strategy states.

The document vows that the U.S. will also “refine and advance military presence in the Arctic in support of our homeland defense, global military and power projection and deterrence goals.”

The U.S. maintains more than 22,000 active-duty troops in Alaska and also has a base in Greenland.

The Pentagon last month established an Arctic Strategy and Global Resilience Office led by Iris Ferguson as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Arctic — a new position. She will oversee several elements of the White House’s Arctic strategy, such as coordinating with U.S. security partners and force modernization.

NATO exercises and force modernization

The strategy calls for an increased focus on joint exercise with NATO allies and Arctic partners ‘to improve operational familiarity with the Arctic region, including cold weather operations and interoperability.” It also calls for collaborating with Canada on NORAD air defense modernization.

Additionally, the document states that the U.S. will procure additional icebreakers for the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard currently operates two icebreakers, the heavy Polar Star and medium Healy.

The Fiscal 2023 Coast Guard Authorization Act, which the Senate Commerce Committee advanced last month, allocates $841 million for a third Polar Security Cutter and another $20 million to set up an Arctic Security Cutter program office.

The White House strategy notes that China has “expanded its icebreaker fleet and sent vessels into the Arctic for the first time.”

China operates two icebreakers, one it manufactured itself and another it purchased from Ukraine in 1994 and refurbished. Beijing has started to develop a third heavy-duty icebreaker for use in the Arctic. Russia has six operational icebreakers.

The other three non-security pillars of the Arctic strategy are climate change and environmental protection, sustainable economic development and international cooperation and governance.

An April Pentagon inspector general report found that the U.S. military has failed to prepare its Arctic and sub-Arctic bases for the long-term impacts of climate change on the region as melting ice sinks runways and damages facilities.

The Arctic strategy notes that the U.S. will “improve Arctic observing, mapping and charting; weather, water and sea ice forecasting; sub-seasonal and seasonal prediction; emergency preparedness posture; and satellite coverage to enable efficient commerce and to ensure maritime and air safety” amid the rapidly changing environment.

The Arctic strategy aside, the White House has not yet released the long-overdue, legally mandated National Security Strategy. As a result, the Pentagon has not yet released the unclassified version of its National Defense Strategy. The Biden administration has attributed the months-long delay in releasing these documents to the need to recalibrate after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 2018 National Security Strategy pivoted away from ongoing wars in the Middle East and Central Asia to great power competition with Russia and China.

Increasing access to the Arctic due to warming conditions will likely result in more frequent economic and military competition with these nations, which will have homeland defense ramifications. To deter malign activities in the region, ensure the defense of North America, and realize a stable and secure Arctic, we must demonstrate a commensurate commitment to the region.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that competitors, such as Russia and the People’s Republic of China, desire to influence international norms and alter the behaviors of allies, partners and Arctic-focused countries for the benefit of these competitor nations. Russia and the PRC have made their intentions for the region clear through the promulgation of strategic documents that underline their commitment to the Arctic.

The Arctic is a top priority for Russia. Russia is aggressively militarizing the region while proclaiming intent to infringe upon freedom of navigation in the Northern Sea Route. Russia will likely continue enhancing its military capabilities and developing the region’s resources and infrastructure. These enhancements will strengthen Russian air and coastal defense capabilities, expand its nuclear deterrent credibility, and increase its ability to place North America at risk.

Russia’s geographic proximity to North America makes it the most acute security concern to U.S. interests in the Arctic; however, Russia’s irresponsible behavior in Ukraine highlights reasons why all Arctic nations should be concerned with Russian activities.

As a self-declared “near-Arctic nation,” the PRC is endeavoring to establish a foothold in the northern latitudes. The PRC has consistently increased its scientific, economic and military activities in the Arctic over the last five years, working toward increasing influence through economic exploitation to gain access to vital natural resources. The PRC is applying all instruments of national power to enhance its Arctic influence, including expanding initiatives such as the Polar Silk Road.

As competitors invest in military infrastructure and Arctic capabilities in such close proximity to the U.S., allies and partners, they bring the threat even closer to home. Ultimately, the advanced threat capabilities that Russia and the PRC can bring to the Arctic region reduces key leadership decision space and erodes credible deterrence options.

The actions taken by strategic competitors in the Arctic necessitate a response. The National Defense Strategy outlines the importance of campaigning to strengthening deterrence capabilities and attaining military advantages through enhancing joint force capabilities. Both of these elements are essential toward achieving the National Defense Strategy’s goal of a stable Arctic region where threats to the U.S. homeland are deterred.

The purpose of Arctic campaigning is to deter strategic competitors and shape their behavior in order to remain in competition and avoid crisis and conflict. One prominent example of Arctic campaigning is exercises that demonstrate capability, readiness and the will to operate in the northern latitudes. Executing large-scale joint and multinational force exercises under Arctic conditions exhibits credible deterrence while broadcasting robust U.S. defense capabilities. These demonstrations, when messaged appropriately, have a profound deterrent effect on competitors, molding perceptions and shaping their actions.

Campaigning also entails collaborating with likeminded nations, organizations and institutions in pursuit of shared objectives. We will realize a key collaboration milestone this month with the official opening of the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies — the Department of Defense’s newest regional center. The Ted Stevens Center will focus on building strong networks with domestic and international Arctic-minded security leaders, and conducting focused analytical research, all aimed toward advancing the department’s priorities in the Arctic.

Aligned under NORTHCOM, the center will advance awareness on Arctic issues, address the implications of environmental change and emphasize the importance of maintaining a rules-based order in the region. The institutional capabilities that the Ted Stevens Center brings will help promote the Arctic as a peaceful and stable region, where international cooperation based on shared values is paramount.

Ceding the Arctic to competitors will result in accepting unnecessary risk to North America. The changing Arctic environment and increasing competitor activities in the region should invoke a sense of urgency in all of us. Efforts to develop and demonstrate Arctic capabilities, as well as establishing or strengthening multilateral organizations to address Arctic concerns, are clear indicators of progress.

More work remains, however, to effectively deter malign competitor activities, while also working together with likeminded nations to ensure an Arctic region governed by a rules-based international order.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck leads North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. In this latter role, he serves as the Defense Department’s Arctic capabilities advocate.

Polar ice has steadily decreased over the last few decades, opening potential new trade routes that could link Asia, North America and Europe.

During a hearing with the House Homeland Security Committee’s transportation and maritime security panel, Adm. Linda Fagan emphasized the need to build an icebreaker fleet capable of maintaining a strong presence in the Arctic region, specifically pointing to polar security cutters.

“We are an Arctic nation,” Fagan said. “Getting the capability and capacity to create an enduring presence in the Arctic, in the waters off Alaska are absolutely a priority.”

Production for the first polar security cutters began this year. Shipbuilder VT Halter Maritime is manufacturing the first PSC under a fixed-price contract, expected to conclude in 2025.

The Coast Guard will eventually receive three heavy icebreakers, followed by three medium icebreakers. The Coast Guard requested $167.2 million in the fiscal 2023 budget to continue production of the PSCs, while also seeking $30.1 million to operate a commercially available icebreaker as it waits.

The U.S. has in recent years run a stark PSC deficit against other Arctic powers, such as Russia. Russia now has more than 40 active icebreakers, including roughly 10 nuclear-powered variants, according to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Waterways and Ocean Policy.

The U.S. operates two icebreakers ― the heavy Polar Star and the medium Healy. That capability difference, Fagan argued, makes clear “why it is so critical” to close the gap in icebreaker capabilities.

For its part, China in 2018 declared itself a “near-arctic power” in its Arctic policy document, with a focus on shoring up energy security as Beijing works to move its economy off of coal.

“As [China] operates around the world, presence and access, I believe, is their interest, which is why it becomes so critical for us as an Arctic nation to have a presence on the water in the Arctic to ensure our own national sovereignty,” Fagan said.

As the planet warms, a more equipped Coast Guard will have to tackle rising problems, said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., who chairs the House subcommittee.

“An ever-changing geopolitical landscape and new challenges from climate change mean that the Coast Guard has never been more essential to America’s national security,” she added.

The Arctic kit is currently in government validation testing, and a production decision will be made at the start of next year on how many kits the command will buy for its LATV fleet, according to Polaris executives.

Special operations units and all of the U.S. armed services have an interest in boosting their operational capabilities in the Arctic. The Army released a strategy for operating in the region in 2021 and has slowly reviewed what it will need to modernize and build up effective operational units in the Arctic.

Polaris won the contract to supply the MRZR Alpha as the command’s LATV in 2020 for $109 million.

The kit — which Polaris displayed at Modern Day Marine in Washington, D.C., this month — provided tracks instead of wheels, plus a cab that keeps passengers less exposed to the elements, the company said.

“Obviously improving the over-snow capability where a wheeled vehicle is somewhat limited” is a reason customers want this capability, Nick Francis, Polaris’ vice president for government and defense, told Defense News in a recent interview. “But there are other types of transitionary terrain or loose soil conditions that a tracked vehicle can also help with.”

Francis noted the cab system can be used separately, with or without tracks.

“The vehicles are expeditionary in nature,” he said, and “having a single vehicle that can be used for a wide variety of missions is very important. … If you can have one vehicle perform in the desert, and then modify that vehicle quickly within two to three hours, and then have it perform in the Arctic environment, you’re able to do more with one asset, so it greatly reduces the logistics burden, maintenance burden, those types of things.”

The track installation is “pretty straightforward,” said John LaFata, an MRZR engineer with Polaris, as they simply take the place of the wheels and tires through an adapter. There is one additional component that provides anti-rotation features to keep the tracks from over-rotating, he added.

“The cab itself is a bit more work from that side of things because we went down the path of designing a cab that would provide really good protection and sealing capability to those elements, whether it’s an Arctic mobility … and other sorts of environments where you’d like to have some occupant protection from … dust, debris or other sorts of hazards,” LaFata said. “So it contains a number of components.”

These include a front and rear hard-coat polycarbonate windshield, a roof, and a rear panel. The doors are steel structures with a paintable surface so they can be camouflaged for different environments, according to LaFata.

The doors have additional venting to allow for airflow into the vehicle, and there’s a vent in the rear panel to allow for airflow out of the vehicle. The package also includes a defroster as well as windshield wipers and a spray for clearing debris from the front windshield. The cab also comes with a heating feature through floor vents.

The Arctic kit is an option that U.S. Special Operations Command can exercise as part of the base contract for LATVs. Polaris is now entering its third year of the seven-year contract.

“Polaris and government validation testing is underway on the tracks, and the cab will start very, very shortly,” Francis said. “Typically, the validation process can take anywhere from three to six months depending on weather and different conditions, so we expect we’ll be able to offer production kits, I would say, likely early next year.”

The Arctic kit will be on display at the special operations conference SOFIC in Tampa Bay, Florida, this week, and will make appearances at other trade shows over the course of the year, including the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference in Washington in the fall.