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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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The U.S. military is deploying its most elite forces for drills in the Arctic as attention increasingly turns to revived Russian activity, and new Chinese interest, in a region "critical" for U.S. security.
A collection of U.S. special operations forces, including Navy SEALs, have recently rounded off the first phase of military drills known as "Operation Polar Dagger," taking place in the Arctic, the Bering Sea, and Alaska, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. has been carrying out these drills—part of a wider push to maintain a presence in the Arctic—for years, but this summer's exercises come off the back of the Pentagon publishing a fresh review of its strategy for the Arctic.
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The Arctic is "critical to the defense of our homeland," Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told reporters in July, adding that Washington was invested in keeping the Arctic as a "secure and stable region."
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It is mostly NATO nations bracketing the Arctic, although Russia has the largest military presence in the region. The U.S. has assessed that Moscow is currently bolstering its Arctic footprint by reopening a range of some of its Cold War-era military facilities, while the effects of climate change are making previously difficult routes open to more and more traffic.
Russia is reopening facilities like radar stations and some airfields around the region, left over from the days of the Soviet Union, said Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Reserve colonel and a senior adviser with the U.S. think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Much of the effort is focused on reconnaissance and surveillance, Cancian said.
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Moscow is an "acute threat" in the Arctic, Hicks said, with climate change "fundamentally altering" the region.
China, too—dubbed the "pacing threat" to the U.S.—has zeroed in on the Arctic.
The U.S. Department of Defense has also said China currently has three icebreaker vessels in the Arctic, and has conducted joint exercises with the Russian navy. However, some analysts cast doubt over just how aligned Beijing and Moscow are on their Arctic plans.
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"While not an Arctic state, the PRC seeks greater influence in the region, greater access to the region, and a greater say in its governance," Hicks said, referring to Beijing by its official title, the People's Republic of China.
Against this backdrop, there is certainly a "resurgence" in the U.S.' interest in the Arctic, although Washington has had its eyes on the region for years, Cancian told Newsweek.
Sending the "most highly trained forces" in the U.S. military to carry out these drills sends a message that Washington can deploy troops able to comfortably operate in these extreme conditions, he added.
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"Military forces must effectively strengthen their ability to survive and operate in austere environments with honed expertise and specialized equipment to overcome the challenges presented by the Alaskan Arctic and High North," said Colonel Matthew Tucker, Special Operations Command North commander.
"If you can operate in the Arctic maritime environment, you can operate anywhere," a senior commander in the exercises said.
The drills, based onboard the USS John L. Canley, included targeting of another force's personnel or supplies en route and practicing medical evacuation, the military said.
But these exercises are also part of a "larger exercise campaign" that includes conventional U.S. forces, too, Cancian added.
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