Arctic

The United States Coast Guard maintains the nation’s only operational ice-breaking vessels, and to date, neither are considered powerful or reliable enough to sustain any sort of extensive Arctic operations. Russia, on the other hand, maintains more than 40, including the world’s only nuclear-powered ice-breaking vessels. In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made […]

As the United States continue to mull over ways to fund a single capable icebreaker to allow America’s military access to the Arctic, Russia rang in the new year by acknowledging it had conducted more than 100 military reconnaissance and maritime patrol flights over the region using bases it already established during 2018. Moscow claims […]

As the United States continue to mull over ways to fund a single capable icebreaker to allow America’s military access to the Arctic, Russia rang in the new year by acknowledging it had conducted more than 100 military reconnaissance and maritime patrol flights over the region using bases it already established during 2018. Moscow claims […]

It can sometimes be easy to lose perspective when talking about historical events. Once timelines stretch beyond the horizon of our own recollection, they tend to get fuzzy. Most people would be surprised to know, for instance, that Cleopatra’s lifetime was actually closer to ours than it was to the construction of the pyramids, or […]

An American has become the first person to complete a solo hike across Antarctica. Colin O’Brady, from Portland, Oregon, just finished the astounding 930-mile endeavour. The trek took him almost two months — 54 days to be precise. He completed it without any external assistance whatsoever. That means no dogs or machines to push his […]

As NEWSREP has covered a number of times in the past, the Russian military has continued to expand — uncontested — throughout the Arctic region. Moscow’s success in the frozen north can be attributed to three things, and the fact that Russia has more Arctic coastline than any nation on earth is certainly one of […]

Russia has placed a heavy emphasis on Arctic defense in recent years, leveraging melting sea ice to establish new shipping lanes and a military foothold throughout the region. NATO forces recently conducted a massive arctic warfare training exercise called “Trident Juncture,” the largest of its sort since the Cold War — but there’s no denying […]

This past October, NATO troops joined forces with nations friendly to the alliance to conduct the largest joint military exercise assembled by the organization since the end of the Cold War: Trident Juncture 18. The drills, which took place in and around the Baltic and Norwegian Seas, were meant to offer the varied military forces […]

NATO training exercise Trident Juncture, a massive two-week show of force being held in the North and Baltic Seas off the coast of Norway, is set to be the largest of its kind since the heyday of the Cold War — and with good reason. As Russia’s surface fleet suffers setback after setback, the redirection […]

The dry dock housing Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, sank late Monday night, damaging the troubled carrier, injuring four, and potentially killing one ship worker. One worker remains missing, as search and rescue teams comb the frigid waters of the Kola Bay near Murmansk. The carrier itself — which has been undergoing long […]

Participants of the Swedish Basic Winter Warfare Course rest in front of a fire during the course’s culminating event in Arvidsjaur, Sweden, Jan. 23, 2018. Marines from the Black Sea Rotational Force and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, along with troops from 9 other countries, participated in the Swedish Basic Winter Warfare Course.   U.S. […]

As Arctic ice sheets continue to melt, Russia has rapidly positioned themselves to take advantage of new northern shipping lanes created by the thinning ice. Russia’s massive fleet of icebreakers — which dwarfs that of the United States and most of its allies combined — bolster six new and a number of other re-opened arctic […]