Navy Secretary: US Weighing Patrols Near Russian Arctic Bases

The Navy will start regularly sailing near Russian land claims in the increasingly ice-free Arctic, challenging Moscow’s push in the High North, Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite said today.

“You will see the Navy operating again in a more permanent manner above the Arctic Circle,” Braithwaite told reporters in what is likely his last interview before the Biden administration takes over on Jan. 20.

The secretary was rolling out the Navy’s new Arctic Strategy paper, which followed last month’s release of a “Tri-Service” strategy last month along with the Marines and Coast Guard, which promised that US ships will “adopt a more assertive posture in our day-to-day operations” around the globe as a check against Chinese and Russian adventurism.