So if the Russians or Chinese decide to "claim" Borden Island or Mackenzie King island or Prince Patrick Island etc (and don't say they wouldn't, it is what they've done in many other locales) and set up a token base to solidify that claim what can troops in Iqaluit or even Alert do? Unless there's updated airports able to handle C17's then how else do you get there? Or do we whine and beg the US to defend us...... again..
Alert is C-17 capable. We fly them in twice a year for Op Boxtop.
They are more likely to land "Civilian Researchers" with armed "guards" to protect them from polar bears, penguins and unicorns.Alert is C-17 capable. We fly them in twice a year for Op Boxtop.
Operation BOXTOP - Canada.ca
A mission to bring supplies to Canadian Forces Station Alert.www.canada.ca
Troops would be landed by helicopter either way, whether from ships or out of Alert or Iqaluit. And if the Russians did manage a foothold, we would airstrike them by fighter jet.
Yes, and? That would be very obvious what they're attempting, which would be a colossal failure on our part to allow it to happen.
Again, Alert has those facilities. It would be a straightforward matter to transport everything there on a turbocharged Boxtop. There's also Yellowknife. And we have tankers for extended range.
Which is why any response based around ships would be doomed to fail. We have fighter jets carrying land attack cruise missiles and the new P-8 will carry Harpoon anti-surface missile. We also have a surveillance network, which would reveal something like that almost immediately. We have the technical capability to find and destroy anything someone puts in our Arctic that we don't want, we're not stuck in the period of the Battle of the Denmark Strait when it comes to searching for enemy ships.
If it's a civilian ship that presents no obvious threat, but isn't supposed to be in the Arctic, then it would be an interdiction mission by the AOPS, which would reveal if it was carrying military equipment and personnel.
For aircraft carrier type ship, yes I would agree.
I disagree with this. Priority one defence of Canada. Priority two is defence of North America. So our first two priorities include the Arctic. The paradigm has shifeted and not everyone here has noticed yet. The Arctic is our security responsibility for North America and one of our cards to play with the US.
No it won't. It will carry LRASM or NSM (hopefully). So it will be a better weapon.
China/Russia will play in the gray areas and that is what we will have to respond to, a threat that is militaristic but disguised as civilian. The LPD/LST I spoke about earlier is based in the south, but can go into the arctic in the open water months. It's primary task is to land heavy equipment and support any ops or exercise up there. The army just did a amphibious training ex with the French. It's going to have to accept that small scale, unopposed landings are part of the game in the Arctic. Having an LST means that you can land a lot more equipment, than a few ATV or a pickup.
An ice strengthened LST or JSS (Davies GLAM for example) is not a warfighter but will deliver warfighting capabilities. The fact that they would be "ice breakers" would give them the ability to move and not be the sitting duck. They would not be a quick response but they could deliver a whole lot more than air dropped equipment be it fixed wing or rotary. Also if the Chinese and Russians are serious about claiming some turf I'm sure they would bring along some air defense capabilities whether it be ship or ground based. Also, drones will figure prominently as they seem to be the new norm.
How do you propose the Chinese or Russians will get there in large numbers, with lots of military kit, and not be detected?
The icebreaker LPD concept would not only be useful in the ice but anywhere else it is sent.
