Streit um die Arktis

[Schneemann]

Angesichts des voranschreitenden Klimawandels ist der drohende Streit um die zunehmend eisfreier werdende Arktis bzw. die dortigen Rohstoffe ja schon länger Thema. Nun hat die Navy (am 05.01.) eine Art Strategiepapier herausgegeben, wie sich die Präsenz der Navy dort in den kommenden Jahren bzw. Jahrzehnten darstellen könnte (und auch darstellen muss, meiner Meinung nach).

New Arctic Strategy Calls for Regular Presence as a Way to Compete With Russia, China

The Navy and Marine Corps released a new Arctic strategy today, calling to extend their new focus on day-to-day competition with Russia and China into the Arctic as it becomes more navigable and therefore more congested in the coming decades.

Citing an expected rise in the use of Arctic waters for commercial shipping, natural resource exploration, tourism and military presence, the strategy calls for the Navy and Marine Corps to increase regular presence in the Arctic. Doing so will require the sea services to collaborate with allies as well as domestic partners like the Coast Guard and Alaska law enforcement organizations, and focus research and acquisition decisions on being able to operate successfully in the High North. [...]

"In the decades ahead, rapidly melting sea ice and increasingly navigable Arctic waters – a Blue Arctic – will create new challenges and opportunities off our northern shores. Without sustained American naval presence and partnerships in the Arctic Region, peace and prosperity will be increasingly challenged by Russia and China, whose interests and values differ dramatically from ours,” reads the strategy. [...]

Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite told reporters today that the Navy and Marine Corps have remained present in the Arctic in recent decades, but that presence has largely been under the ice or in the air. As competition in the region grows, he said, it will be important to have a more visible surface presence – with both manned and unmanned ships – to make clear that the U.S. will operate in all international waters, including those above the Arctic Circle. [...]

- Command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR). The Department will assess and prioritize C5ISR capabilities in the Arctic Region, to include resilient, survivable, and interoperable networks and information systems of naval tactical forces, operations centers, and strategic planning. These capabilities will enhance domain awareness with the joint force, U.S. interagency, allies, and partners in the Arctic Region.

- Naval Forces. The Department will evaluate and modernize existing and future forces to provide manned and unmanned operational presence and patrol options in cold weather and ice-diminished Arctic waters. We will improve hydrographic surveys and sensors to support the Fleet. In a Blue Arctic, the Department must have a more credible presence in Arctic waters. This means ensuring that Arctic operations are considered in our design and modernization plans, and that our defense industrial base can build and sustain forces for the Arctic. [...]

Braithwaite also discussed the idea of the Navy buying icebreakers, an idea that stems from a June memo by President Donald Trump that called for a more capable Arctic and Antarctic icebreaking fleet by 2029. The Coast Guard has been in charge of that mission in recent decades, but Braithwaite said in a December Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the Navy was looking into purchasing icebreakers for its own use. He repeated that idea again in the media call today.

In the SASC hearing, Braithwaite said he went to Finland to see icebreakers there as a possible solution the Navy might consider buying. He said it was important that the U.S. have an icebreaker construction capability but that today the U.S. can’t build fast enough to meet Trump’s directive.

https://news.usni.org/2021/01/05/new-arc...ssia-china

Eine weitere Baustelle, was auch im Text erwähnt wird, ist der Umstand, dass die GPS-Datenerfassung im Eismeer unzureichend ist. Ich denke, dass auch hier die Kapazitäten in den kommenden Jahren ausgebaut werden.

Schneemann.