The newly-passed “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) includes more than $8.6 billion for the establishment of new US Coast Guard icebreakers.
Back in 2008, the Russian Federation reorganized its strategic outlook to focus on developing the massive, relatively untapped resources of the Arctic. Unchallenged by the United States’ miniscule Coast Guard icebreaker fleet, Moscow went about revitalizing its old Soviet-era military bases and mining outposts that dot the lucrative region.
They then moved to not only restore their previous standing in this area, but to dominate it. That domination came in the form of nuclear-powered icebreakers. Russia today has many of these complex, impressive systems, whereas the Americans and their allies have precious few.
Understanding the Strategic Gap in the High North
A grave strategic gap, therefore, has opened. Given Russia’s 17-year head start—and America’s ailing shipbuilding and overall defense industrial capacity—it will be difficult for Washington to catch up in any meaningful timeline.
Thus, the Trump administration has sought out traditional American allies to help plug that gap—notably Finland, a fellow Arctic power. Recent reports from the now-concluded NATO summit indicate that President Donald Trump wants to purchase a tranche of icebreakers from Helsinki. When asked on June 25 by a Finnish journalist, the president explained that the United States was looking to purchase 15 icebreakers of varying classes from Finland. In Trump’s estimation, the Finns are among the greatest builders of icebreakers in the world—and he wants to purchase this tranche of 15 icebreakers to help fill the gap created by those lost years of inactivity in the Arctic.
Icebreakers are a key element for any major operation in the Arctic. That’s because, as the name suggests, these massive ships can cut through the ice, while other ships cannot. By cutting through the ice, icebreakers clear pathways for other ships operating in this harsh region. The Russians, because they have been so heavily invested in developing the region for so long, have taken things a step further. They are using nuclear-powered icebreakers to help establish their Northern Sea Route (NSR).
Russia envisages the NSR being a rival to the Suez Canal. A sealane linking Vladivostok to northern Europe, it is considerably shorter than the existing southern route linking Asia to Europe via Suez. While not open all year round as the Suez Canal route is, thanks largely to Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet—which maintains a fleet of eight, with at least four more on the way—as well as what some scientists believe to be the warming waters of the Arctic, the NSR is staying open longer every year.
Beyond that, as the Middle East continues destabilizing, it is likely that more of that more of the world’s shipping firms will start preferring the relative safety of the frigid NSR than the existing southern route.
America Must Compete in the Arctic
The United States must compete across-the-board with Moscow in the High North. Icebreakers are literally the pathfinders for ships operating in these increasingly crowded waters. More to the point, North America is home to a rival sea route to Russia’s NSR, the famed Northwest Passage.
Sadly, however, the Canadians and Americans have become embroiled in a dispute over whether the waterway is internal Canadian waters, or an international waterway subject to the laws of freedom of navigation.
Canada, like the United States, lacks the requisite resources to fully exploit the bounties of the Arctic in the way that the Russians have been doing since 2008. The Europeans have failed to properly resource their claims in the Arctic, too—a major point of contention during Trump’s seemingly-aborted attempt to purchase Greenland earlier this year. Trump argues that Denmark has failed to properly develop Greenland and use it as a bulwark against both Russian and Chinese ambitions in the Arctic. Denmark doesn’t care, arguing that its claim to Greenland supersedes whatever complaints Trump has made.
Yet, for all the caterwauling from the likes of Canada and the Europeans, the fact remains that only the United States has the political will to rise in defense of the Arctic and to more fully develop it in favor of the West. Under Trump, it appears that America finally has the political will to do so, too.
That’s why the newly-passed “Big Beautiful Bill” (BBB) includes more than $8.6 billion for the establishment of new US Coast Guard icebreakers. And it is why Trump is trying to purchase icebreakers from third countries like Finland.
Russia has a 17-year lead on the Americans in the Arctic. Time is not on America’s side. The sooner America gets these icebreakers from Finland, the better.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Shutterstock / maks_ph.
