Arctic Access

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2012 budget requests of U.S. Northern and Southern commands, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) asked NORTHCOM chief Gen. Charles Jacoby today about the possibility that commercial ships would be regularly transiting the Arctic Ocean for two months out of the year by 2020. Jacoby responded:

Arctic is a unique domain and it's changing every day for us. We work closely with the Canadians on how they think about the Arctic and how they are planning for it. They really are working in three five-year blocks towards some of the same things we are considering.

Today, [U.S. Coast Guard Commandant] Adm. [Robert] Papp and I are going to sign a white paper that we've done -- a capabilities gap assessment, principally in the areas of communications, domain awareness, infrastructure and presence, and what we will recommend for the future that might lead to prudent investments to position us for that eventual opening of the Arctic.

Traffic's already increased over 61 percent in the Arctic since 2008. They'll be drilling starting in the Beaufort Sea prior to the close of the spring, so security interests follow closely behind economic interests, and we will be participating in a number of venues to help lead that for the Department of Defense.

Following a March 2 speech he gave in Louisville, KY, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was asked about climate change and its possible effect on national security. In his response, he touched on the melting polar ice cap:

In addition, obviously, we do look at the polar ice cap and are able through imagery to determine what's happening with polar ice cap and just how quickly is it melting and what that impact will be.  I can tell you.  As the polar ice cap melts, the national security implications are that countries like Russia and others are going to be looking for the opportunity to go into those areas and try to go after the resources in the Arctic.  They've already made claims to that effect.

Further, a Jan. 13 Government Accountability Office report on DOD policy toward the Arctic found:

While DOD has undertaken some efforts to assess the capabilities needed to meet national security objectives in the Arctic, it is unclear whether DOD will be in a position to provide needed capabilities in a timely and efficient manner because it lacks a risk-based investment strategy for addressing near-term needs and a collaborative forum with the Coast Guard for addressing long-term capability needs.