Chief of
Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday called for a massive international exercise in the Arctic
similar to Rim of the Pacific, which is held every two years in warmer waters near Hawaii.
He said on June 7 at a Brookings Institution panel in Washington, D.C,
“The trade routes between Asia and Europe will fundamentally change
in our lifetime due to the erosion of the polar ice cap. The Arctic becomes
now an area of competition that we must think more deeply about,"
Viewers may note that Gilday previously called for a large
Arctic exercise at the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference in London in May.
Gilday said., This massive exercise
would be similar to RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise,
which involves about “30 different 30 navies and tens of thousands of sailors. It has been
a catastrophically successful venture for navies … and I think that we could do the
same up in the Arctic, and it doesn't have to be led by the United States.”
He said, “With Sweden and Finland joining NATO,
eight of the nine nations of the Arctic Council are actually part of NATO. I think that over
time we'll begin to talk more and more about the transpolar nature and interest involved.”
In this video, Defense Updates analyses why the American Chief of Naval Operations wants massive
exercise in the Arctic? Let's get started.
As the ice caps melt in the Arctic, it will become economically viable to navigate.
Rivals like Russia are gearing up to monetize the potentially lucrative
Northern Sea Route (NSR) as the Barents Sea and Arctic thaw faster than anticipated.
The NSR offers a significantly shorter shipping distance between Europe and
Asia compared to alternative routes. By utilizing the NSR, shipping companies
can save time and fuel costs, making it an attractive option for international trade.
Northern Sea Route could make connectivity between Europe and Asia 40% faster,
cheaper, more fuel-efficient, and greener.
The melting of ice has also opened up new possibilities for resource
exploration and extraction in the region. It is interesting to note that Russia will
lose land as the ice melts, but it may gain nearly 1.2 m sq km in its continental shelf
which means it will have rights to extract under-sea minerals and energy resources.
Initially, Russian President Putin had dismissed climate change.
But he has moved away from that line and signed the Paris Accord on climate change.
Russia is building up its military presence in the region at a rapid pace to protect its interests.
It now has seven bases along the shipping route,
the latest being Northern Clover on Kotelny Island, deep inside the Arctic.
Margaret Leinen, director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
said the United States is no longer a dominant player in the marine science field,
calling China's rapid growth in the field “staggering.”
“Just in the last 10 years, we have seen [China] invest in whole new oceanographic
institutions,” she said, “Since about 2005, China has had medium to long-term
science and development plans, MLPs, which prioritize mega projects…Every
one of the new oceanographic institutions as well as two new ocean universities that
were just constructed of whole cloth since 2010, have a research vessel that is larger
than any U.S. ocean research vessel that has benefited from this kind of construction.”
Along with engineering, research, ship design, and navigation mega projects,
China is also interested in building deep-sea stations, she said.
“There's not a lot of information on exactly what China considers a deep-sea station,
but you can understand the strategic importance of being able to have something that has a nexus of
capabilities that is in the deep ocean,” she said, “The big challenge for us is not the intellectual
ability, but the sheer financial tidal wave of funding elsewhere that we're up against.”
Gilday said, though Chinese marine science technology is advancing at an impressive rate,
the U.S. Navy has also recognized the impact
that marine and ocean science have on naval capabilities.
He added, “People talk about space as the last frontier,
but there's so much that we don't know about the oceans and the ocean bottom.
We are shifting significant resources to unmanned" vessels.
He further said unmanned vessels are ideal for collecting marine and ocean data, but the key is
figuring out how to use that data in the most efficient way possible. New technologies like
artificial intelligence are completely changing the way the Navy interprets data.
Gilday stated, “AI capabilities are
giving us the ability to take a look at that data, to learn faster and to be much more predictable in
terms of how we understand ocean currents and things going on under the sea that we
didn't understand or would take years to figure out crunching data. I think the reliance on AI
is fundamentally the biggest game changer with getting a better understanding of the undersea.”
He said the Navy plans to introduce unmanned vessels to their South American partners
as a part of the UNITAS naval exercise in July. Uncrewed surface and subsurface boats can monitor
sea lanes and search for nefarious activities such as drug smuggling and illegal fishing,
He said these "potentially unmanned [capabilities] give us,
along with allies and partners —which is really key here — the
ability to keep an unblinking eye on that kind of activity and collect data”
It is important to note that the development and utilization of the NSR also come with challenges,
including unpredictable weather conditions, limited infrastructure,
and potential environmental risks. However, as the Arctic continues to
experience rapid changes, the NSR's importance is likely to increase,
and further investments and collaborations may be necessary to unlock its full potential.
We have seen how China has managed de facto control of the South China
Sea region with a massive infra setup with includes the deployment of not
only sensors like long-range radar but also anti-ship and air defense systems.
A similar situation can develop in the Arctic and hence it is paramount that
the US along with the allies step up the game.
A naval exercise as proposed by Gilday would send the right signals.