Friday, January 8, 2021 at 10:43
Royal Norwegian Navy Skjold-class Corvettes HNOMS Storm and HNMOS Skudd ride alongside the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman during flight operations supporting Exercise Trident Juncture 2018 off the coast of Vestfjordern, Norway October 24, 2018. (Specialist 2nd Class Thomas Gooley/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS)
Rapidly melting sea ice and increasingly navigable Arctic waters – a so-called Blue Arctic – will create new challenges and opportunities for the United States, requiring “sustained American naval presence and partnerships in the Arctic region,” according to the new U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Arctic strategy.
The strategy released on Tuesday by outgoing Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite cites an expected rise in commercial shipping, natural resource exploration and increased military competition with Russia and China in the Arctic, calling on the Navy and the Marine Corps to focus on “day-to-day” competition with