Coast Guard cutter Polar Star sits on blocks in a Vallejo, Calif., dry dock facility undergoing depot-level maintenance in 2018.
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaker capability must grow to counter Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic, the service’s commandant told lawmakers Thursday.
Polar ice has steadily decreased over the last few decades, opening potential new trade routes that could link Asia, North America and Europe.
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaker capability must grow to counter Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic, the service’s commandant told lawmakers Thursday.
Polar ice has steadily decreased over the last few decades, opening potential new trade routes that could link Asia, North America and Europe.
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,”
Today, modern technology allows easy access to the underwater dimension,” said Rear Adm. Vito Lacerenza, the commander of the Navy’s submarine fleet.
“Even yachts can deploy submarines or undersea drones, so there is an increased need for more accurate situational awareness in the underwater environment to monitor and protect critical infrastructure such as these cables, which carry over 95% of the world’s internet volume,” he told Defense News.
In a statement, the Navy and Sparkle said they will undertake “joint reconnaissance and monitoring activities of Sparkle’s proprietary submarine cables and neighbouring areas,” adding that the service “will also provide cartographic support for the seabed of interest as well as assistance in emergency operational situations.”
Lacerenza said the Navy will “exchange information” with the firm.
“Their data will give us a better awareness of the network and its critical aspects to help us monitor it better,” he said. “Knowing where these cables [are] means we can offer better surveillance using submarine sensors.
“Crises all around the Mediterranean have increased the attention we pay to this infrastructure. What we are learning is that the undersea domain is as important as space when it comes to protecting national economies.”
NATO ministers in 2020 discussed the danger of Russian submarines cutting or tapping undersea internet cables, and the U.K. last year announced it would build a new surveillance ship to protect cables. At the time, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the “lights could go out” if “incredibly important” undersea cables were attacked, specifically noting that Russia had “taken a deep interest” in the cables.
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