{"id":14588,"date":"2020-09-21T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/09\/21\/the-arctic-is-a-strategic-hot-spot-but-western-allies-lack-good-intel\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:25:35","slug":"the-arctic-is-a-strategic-hot-spot-but-western-allies-lack-good-intel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2020\/09\/21\/the-arctic-is-a-strategic-hot-spot-but-western-allies-lack-good-intel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arctic is a strategic hot spot, but Western allies lack good intel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The United States and its allies have been chilling out this summer, but experts and officials say something has been missing that prevents them from making the most of the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A flurry of exercises, patrols and news releases has made one point clear: The Arctic is a strategic hot spot<\/a>. Over the past few months, the U.S. has sent some of its highest-end and most sophisticated assets to the Arctic region, including the highly secretive attack submarine Seawolf<\/a>, its Rota, Spain-based missile defense destroyers, and Air Force B-2 bombers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it has not been alone. The United Kingdom, Canada, France, Denmark and others have joined<\/a> the U.S. in patrols and exercises in the High North, as both Russia and China have stepped up their presence in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But according to analysts, governments and a senior former military official, the Western coalition lacks adequate surveillance and intelligence in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have significant domain awareness challenges, and that really begins in the high latitudes,\u201d former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told a virtual audience at the 2020 Defense News Conference, which took place Sept. 9-10. \u201cThings start to get pretty dark once you get up higher than 72 degrees north.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the allies, a consensus has formed that as China and Russia seek to exploit the warming Arctic for new, faster shipping routes and for resources, it\u2019s essential they invest in greater surveillance capabilities. To illustrate the issue, Zukunft said the Coast Guard recently made a stunning discovery in the Arctic \u2014 something for which the service should have received early warning from intelligence officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe sent a national security cutter to patrol that region in a relatively ice-free portion of the season,\u201d Zukunft recounted. \u201cAnd we stumbled upon a joint exercise between Russia and China. Our intelligence community did not have awareness that this was going on. So we were the originators of this information and otherwise we would not have known. We need to continue to invest in domain awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zukunft posited that it should be possible to identify high-threat locations in the Arctic region and send assets to monitor those areas. That would be more effective than trying to saturate the whole region with air and surface assets, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Snow blind<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s an assessment agreed to by U.S. allies such as Denmark. Last winter, the Danish prime minster said in an interview<\/a> that the increased Russian activity in the Arctic meant her country should invest in more space-based surveillance as well as anti-submarine capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that is easier said than done, according to Bryan Clark, a retired U.S. Navy submarine officer and analyst with the Hudson Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo get Arctic and Antarctic imagery, you have to use polar orbits,\u201d Clark explained. “Geostationary satellites won\u2019t work down there: You\u2019d get a very small area for a very expensive satellite. \u2026 Unless you want to put in place a dozen polar-orbiting satellites, you just aren\u2019t going to get the kind of real-time imagery that you get in the mid-latitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody has spent that kind of money to do strictly polar imaging. So once you go up north, you are stuck with the polar-orbiting satellites, and those give you just this really short window of coverage. That is until someone invests a lot of money in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Many satellites gathering info on Earth pass over the polar regions. This video shows the most northern ground station used by the European Space Agency. (EDA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The U.S. Space Development Agency is planning to expand polar coverage<\/a> somewhat, Clark said. But it will not likely be enough to get the kind of coverage the area demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Space Development Agency\u2019s intent is to expand the coverage in the High North, but to really get up to the poles, you need polar orbits,\u201d Clark said. “Some of these commercial efforts may be trying to expand polar coverage for environmental purposes and those satellites are pretty cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo from a space perspective, I think they will be trying to expand a little bit on what they have in the mid-latitudes and rely on commercial coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Department of Defense will really get its money\u2019s worth from unmanned aerial surveillance, Clark said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a February hearing before the House Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee, the State Department\u2019s deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, Michael Murphy, testified that Russia\u2019s military buildup in the Arctic threatens the United States’ and NATO\u2019s northern flank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Russia has cooperated on oil spill response and search-and-rescue missions, the U.S. views the country\u2019s activities with suspicion, especially in the establishment of an Arctic base as well as the installation of coastal missile batteries, early warning radars and air defense assets, Murphy said in testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Russian military buildup in the Arctic has implications beyond its waters,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom a geostrategic perspective, the Arctic and the North Atlantic are inextricably linked. The Arctic provides Russian ships and submarines with access to a critical naval chokepoint: the GIUK gap that plays an outsized role in NATO\u2019s defense and deterrence strategy. Underwater trans-Atlantic cables also run through this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn short, NATO\u2019s northern flank must once again command the attention of the United States and its allies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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