Arctic

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Wells pulls himself out of the Arctic Ocean during ice rescue training on October 3, 2018, about 715 miles north of Barrow, Alaska. Wells is a crew member aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) and participated in ice rescue training in order to qualify as a […]

As the unconventional conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan draw to a close and the U.S. military again turns its gaze toward nation-level threats, the 75th Ranger Regiment prepares for a conflict in the Arctic. The Regiment sent almost 30 Rangers from across its three line battalions to attend the Cold Weather Operations Course (CWOC), at […]

An Army paratrooper assigned to Blackfoot Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, fires the M249 light machine gun at night during live fire training at Grezelka Range, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on March 4, 2019. Utilizing the M249 light machine gun and […]

Paratroopers huddle to protect a mock casualty from the rotor wash of a landing UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The exercise, conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Anchorage, Alaska on February 20th, included U.S. Army Paratroopers with the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment (Airborne), 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), and 25th Infantry Division, U.S. […]

In recent years, the Russian government has capitalized on both melting sea ice and American inaction in the Arctic to dramatically expand its military footprint throughout the region. As Putin himself has put it, new shipping lanes opening in the Arctic may represent the future for the struggling Russian economy, but their presence in the […]

U.S. Army paratroopers set up an M119 105 mm howitzer at Malemute Drop Zone while conducting an airborne forced-entry operation at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on January 16, 2019. The paratroopers are with Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division. They joined paratroopers from 1st […]

For the first time since the Cold War, Russia has announced plans to begin flying regular fighter patrols over the North Pole with an eye toward intercepting American military aircraft. According to sources within the Russian Ministry of Defense, two squadrons of MiG-31BM intercept fighters will be tasked with conducting routine patrol operations over the […]

For the first time since the Cold War, Russia has announced plans to begin flying regular fighter patrols over the North Pole with an eye toward intercepting American military aircraft. According to sources within the Russian Ministry of Defense, two squadrons of MiG-31BM intercept fighters will be tasked with conducting routine patrol operations over the […]

Per the British Antarctic Survey press release: “A team of scientists and engineers has for the first time successfully drilled over two kilometres through the ice sheet in West Antarctica using hot water. This research will help understand how the region will respond to a warming climate. The 11-person team has been working on the […]

America‘s only operational heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, reached McMurdo Station in Antarctica earlier this week, breaking through ice as thick as 21 feet along the way to clear a path for a cargo vessel to resupply America‘s Antarctic operations. This marks the sixth such voyage in as many years for the Polar Star, but […]

Horrific footage of Tuesday’s crash of a Russian flagged Tu-22M3 bomber has surfaced on the internet, confirming initial reports that the aircraft broke apart during an attempted landing in Murmansk, a Russian city located north of the Arctic Circle. The footage clearly shows the blizzard like conditions at the time of the incident before the […]

A Russian Air Force Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber crashed while attempting to land during an arctic blizzard in Marmansk. The aircraft reportedly broke apart when it hit the runway, killing two of the four-man crew immediately. The other two crew members were rushed to a nearby hospital, where local media outlets are now reporting that one […]