Britain must learn to fight in the Arctic amid concerns Moscow is beefing up its capabilities in sub-zero conditions as ice caps melt and create new sea routes, the defence secretary has said.
Ben Wallace warned of “growing threats and competition” in the High North as he pledged to build up a force of troops that could rapidly deploy to the region in the event of conflict.
During a visit to Arvidsjaur in Swedish Lapland, he said more troops, such as Royal Marine commandos, needed to learn how to survive and carry out surveillance in temperatures as low as minus 40C. Several hundred commandos go to Norway every year for cold weather training.
However, as Russia bolsters its military defences in response to climate change, there are concerns the Arctic could become a new battleground.
Wallace wants the UK to beef up its own capability in snow and icy conditions as a result. Wallace disclosed that he would carry out an “Arctic strategy” next year to work out where troops should be deployed.
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Speaking in the Arctic Circle, he said: “I am very keen we do even more in the High North. We need to learn and be able to deploy rapidly to the High North if we need to support our allies.These conditions are unique, survival in the cold is a very different trick to survival on Salisbury Plain.” His Swedish counterpart, the defence minister Peter Hultqvist, said that the Russians were building up an Arctic brigade and their naval forces, which included a submarine base.
“They have ambition to control the northeast passage. There are also a lot of exercises from the Russian side. We must follow very closely and we must respond with security signals,” he said. Wallace met personnel from the newly re- established Norrland Dragoon Regiment, which focuses on Arctic warfare and where the UK is looking to learn from its Scandinavian partners.
In September, the Russian Northern Fleet Joint Strategic Command carried out an Arctic exercise led by the Northern Fleet commander, Admiral Aleksandr Moiseyev. Russia’s ministry of defence said that it involved 50 warships, 8,000 troops, 120 aircraft and 800 units of equipment which included 40 battle tanks and 460 armoured fighting vehicles.
Shipping routes opened up by ice melting in the Arctic have the potential to cut transit times from China to Europe by almost half, making them very lucrative. Scientific research has indicated there will be no ice left in the Arctic during the summer months by 2050.
Wallace said the Arctic was “incredibly important” and that climate change had created increasing opportunities but also the potential for disputes.
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“Russia makes lots of territorial claims in the Arctic, some legitimate, some disputed, and everyone in the Arctic has a duty to uphold international laws,” he said. “It is an area that allows people to transit in certain times of the year through the sea. There are some people who would seek to restrict that.”
Earlier in the year, Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, the Ministry of Defence’s climate change chief, said the military needed to adapt to melting ice in the Arctic by building ships with armoured hulls like the Russians and Chinese so they could pass through the new sea routes.
Nato is on high alert after more than 90,000 Russian troops were deployed to the border with Ukraine, prompting fear of an invasion. Less than 48 hours after President Biden and President Putin held talks over the Ukrainian crisis, Russia deployed more tanks, artillery and missile launchers to an army base about 120 miles from the Ukrainian border, according to videos posted by independent Russian military analysts.
In Denmark on Wednesday, Wallace said that there would be severe consequences if Russian forces moved across the border.
