Canada wants 12 new submarines to reinforce the Arctic Defense while NATO observes Russia and China moves

Canada plans to acquire a dozen new submarines capable of traveling under sea ice as part of the efforts to reinforce the defense of the vast coastal region of the country, announced the Canadian Ministry of Defense last week.

“A larger modernized underwater fleet will help us detect and deter threats in the three coasts and protect Canadians and Canadian interests,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week in the NATO Summit in Washington.

Climate change has accelerated the fusion of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, which is slowly opening new shipping routes that Western powers concern that adversaries can use for economic and military purposes.

The so -called Northern Sea Route could become the most efficient shipping route between Europe and Asia by 2050, said the Canadian National Defense Department in a recent statement.

The Canada Army pointed out “a growing number of Chinese dual purpose research and surveillance platforms that collect data on the Canadian north”, in addition to the increase in Russian activity in the Arctic region.

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China has quickly expanded its own underwater fleetand Russian submarines continue to collect intelligence in the Arctic waters, said the Ministry of Defense.

As News themezone has reportedRussia has increased military operations in the Arctic circle, including advanced tests Hypersonic missiles. Several years ago, a Russian natural gas oil tanker completed a round trip trip Along the Route of the North Sea, which connects Western Europe and the Atlantic Ocean with East Asia.

“They have been eager to develop this Route of the North Sea,” Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist at the Naval Analysis Center, told News. He said that Russia had visions to use the route, which crosses the exclusive economic zone of Russia, as an alternative to southern routes through the Suez or Panama channels. The Arctic Route can reduce traffic times to 20 days.

Currently, the Northern Sea route is only navigable for a limited time every year, during periods without ice. But as polar ice caps continue to melt, some estimates suggest that the route could be constantly free of ice in less than two decades.

The updated national defense policy of Canada, published in April, takes into account these imminent changes and details the country’s plans to increase its military presence in the Arctic to mitigate possible threats.

The new submarines of Canada will be used to “detect, track, deter and, if necessary, defeat the adversaries” in the waters of the country, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

“This new fleet will allow Canada to protect its sovereignty in a changing world and make high -end valuable contributions to the safety of our NATO partners and allies,” said Canada Defense Minister Bill Blair, in the statement.

The Canadian defense policy indicates that NATO has focused more attention on Russia’s ability to project force from its Arctic territory to the North Atlantic.

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The growing presence of Russia in the Arctic will have an indirect impact on the national security of the United States, according to analyst Gorenburg.

“It affects the safety of the United States largely due to possible threats to NATO and the structure of the alliance,” he said, pointing out a Russian attack In Alliance Allies Finland or Norway as possible examples of what could attract Washington to a conflict.

This week, Canada, the United States and Finland announced a trilateral association “to continue building the best Arctic and polar breaks and other capacities of the Arctic and polar in each of our respective countries,” saying that the PACT was about “providing the capacity of the capacity of related nations to comply with international rules, norms and standards to maintain peace and stability in the arcit Anti-regions for generations of generations to begin “”. “

The Canadian government has said that it is already discussing their needs with manufacturers and, during the next decade, also plans to modernize its existing fleet of four submarines, which were bought in the United Kingdom in 1998.

Currently, Canada does not reach 2% of the Gross Domestic Defense Investment Guide (GDP) of NATO. However, Blair said that the country hopes to reach that reference point by 2032, and the Canadian defense policy aims to boost 1.4% of GDP defense investment by 2025.

Taylor Johnston contributed to this report.

• Climate change
• Arctic
• Submarine
• Russia
• Global warming
• Porcelain
• NATO
• Canada