The Arctic remains one of the globe's key strategic regions. The northern latitudes, including America's own 49th state, contain a wealth of resources, from petroleum to rare earth metals. This is why President Trump, along with several presidents before him, was so anxious to come to a basing deal with Greenland. That's why we are (too slowly) building up our presence in the north Pacific, including increasing our icebreaker fleet. In the Arctic, we face Russia, who controls around half the Arctic Sea coastline, and an increasingly persistent China, who seem more determined to expand into the area where they have no territory.
This year, a breakdown in one Coast Guard icebreaker, the cutter Healy, halved our icebreaking capacity just as several Chinese "research" vessels were trailing their coats down the Alaska coast.
America's ability to maintain a presence in the Arctic remains thin enough that a single mechanical failure cut the Coast Guard's icebreaking capability in the region in half this summer.
And the breakdown comes as Chinese vessels are expanding their activity around Alaska.
Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard's Arctic District, told Fox News Digital the failure of Coast Guard Cutter Healy left him with just one of two icebreakers that had been slated to operate in the ice. Meanwhile, four Chinese research vessels were operating in the region.
"Healy's unexpected mechanical failure cut in half my capability to operate up in the ice," Little said.
Icebreaking capacity is vital to operations in this region. Russia is the champion when it comes to icebreaking in the region, with 41 icebreakers of varying sizes. China has only five, but the United States has a grand total of three Arctic icebreakers, all operated by the United States Coast Guard: the Polar Star, the Healy, and the Storis.
It was the Healy that broke down last summer, reducing our Arctic icebreaking capacity by half.
The shortfall comes as the U.S. faces a growing need to maintain a presence in waters that can take days to reach. Chinese research vessels are gaining experience in the Arctic and collecting data that can also have military applications, including for submarine operations, while Russia's much larger icebreaker fleet gives Moscow greater ability to move ships and supplies through the region.
The Coast Guard is now racing to add ships, aircraft and surveillance capabilities as shrinking sea ice opens more of the Arctic to navigation. But its next generation of icebreakers is still years away.
The Trump administration is sinking $25 billion into this problem, which includes the funding of at least 11 new Arctic Security Cutters for the Coast Guard — but the first of those ships aren't expected to be in operation until 2028. A lot can happen in two years.
In World War II, the last major near-peer conflict the United States fought, there were operations in the far north, most notably the Japanese seizure of two of the Aleutian Islands, and on the other side of the planet, naval operations, including the Battle of the Atlantic, reached into the Arctic approaches. But any future such conflict will have an Arctic theater; the resources and shipping routes in that region will necessitate it. To operate in those waters, we need icebreaking capacity. And there's no guarantee any future Democrat administration may be willing to fund such equipment and operations. China, on the other hand, is clearly working up their practices and procedures for operating in the Arctic.
And if anyone thinks that these Chinese ships are strictly "research" vessels, then I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them.