We cannot allow Russia and China to dominate the Arctic with a military buildup

In April, the Russian Navy completed testing a powerful new warship: a “combat icebreaker.” Armed with a 76mm cannon and with room for eight anti-ship cruise missiles, the Ivan Papanin is the world’s first surface warship purpose-built to fight in the frozen waters of the Arctic.

Russia knows that the Northern Hemisphere is the world’s next great frontier. Lucrative sea lanes are opening for commercial shipping, and new technologies have unlocked access to the abundant untapped mineral and energy resources lying under the ice. In fact, some estimate that the Arctic holds as much as 22% of the world’s untapped reserves of fossil fuels. Russia, recognizing this, has launched a major military buildup in the Arctic. China, too, is rapidly growing its presence in the region.

The United States, however, is lagging behind, leaving our northern flank dangerously exposed. 

As the great American statesman Henry Clay pointed out long ago: our national security, and our sovereignty, hinges on our economic independence. Should China and Russia manage to dominate the Arctic, its sea lanes, and its natural resources, we would be far less free as a country. 

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We are already dependent on China’s shipbuilding and critical minerals industries, and the international scramble for the Arctic has opened the door for China to seize control of even more of the world’s mineral resources — i.e. minerals we need for everything from weapons systems to advanced technologies to rebuilding our industrial base. Meanwhile, Russia has begun shipping natural gas and oil directly to China and Asia through the newly-opened Northern Sea Route, threatening to undermine demand for our own energy exports.

Our adversaries dominate the region. Russia deploys more than 30 diesel-electric icebreakers and seven nuclear-powered icebreakers, in addition to its combat icebreakers. As of 2024, it operates 32 military bases in the region and is rapidly building more. China, which doesn’t even have territory in the Arctic, operates five icebreakers. 

By comparison, the U.S. Coast Guard, our only armed service that uses icebreakers, is still reeling from years of neglect under the Biden administration. It only operates three icebreakers right now; one of them is nearly 50 years old, and construction on the third was only completed earlier this year. While it can patrol the north from its largest base in Alaska, the service still has to rely on a Canadian base to conduct operations in the eastern Arctic.

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Thankfully, President Trump is turning the tide. Under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is overseeing the largest-ever Arctic maritime investment in American history. And the president has proven that this is a top priority: his efforts to expand U.S. presence in the Eastern Arctic region, especially near Greenland, is poof of that.

Already, President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill has allocated enough funds for 17 new icebreakers: $4.3 billion for up to three new heavy Polar Security Cutters, $3.5 billion to build new medium Arctic Security Cutters, and $816 million for light and medium icebreaking vessels. 

And, to close the icebreaker gap even further, the United States signed the ICE Pact with Finland and Canada last year. It creates a shipbuilding consortium between our three nations, allowing us to share expertise, train our domestic workforce, and begin the work to fulfill President Trump’s commitment to build a grand total of 40 new icebreakers. 

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This is the Coast Guard’s effort to build a cutting-edge icebreaker fleet that can give American military and commercial vessels continued access to the Arctic region and directly compete with Russia and China. These powerful new ships will cut through the Arctic Sea ice, opening the way for America to dramatically expand its presence in the Northern Hemisphere. Every time one of these cutters launches from an American shipyard, our nation becomes that much more secure.  

President Trump and Secretary Noem clearly understand why all this is necessary — and needed right away. Some of the first trips Secretary Noem made after her appointment were to Alaska, underscoring the importance of the Coast Guard presence there to America’s national security. 

The Coast Guard Authorization Act has also been passed by both the House and the Senate. Once signed by the president, it will not only expand our historic investment in the Coast Guard but will create a Secretary of the Coast Guard which will report directly to the White House and Congress, bringing the service in lined with its fellow branches of the military and eliminating multiple layers of unnecessary and cumbersome bureaucracy. 

Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem, the Coast Guard will be rebuilt into the finest maritime fighting force in the world. It will help secure our northern flank against our adversaries — protecting American sovereignty, security, and economic prosperity for generations to come.  

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