A New Focus for Warfare

For the past 12 years, the Canadian Army has been focused on conflict in the desert. As the war in Afghanistan winds down and the Arctic Ocean ice continues to melt at a rapid pace, the Canadian government is looking into options to ensure that their troops are able to deploy anywhere in the world they are needed. As one of 8 nations with ties to the Arctic coastline, the ability to defend their territory anywhere in the world is of major concern to the Canadians.

Arctic Boundaries

 

Other nations with strong territorial claims are also working to assert their sovereignty over the Arctic Circle, and more specifically the North Pole. Russia has already tried to declare the North Pole their own in 2007. And as a 2010 US report by the Geological Survey stated, almost 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its natural gas could be located in the Arctic, making it a place of strategic importance due to its vast amount of rich natural resources.

As the Canadians work to establish a force capable of sustaining itself in the cold, logistical issues abound. In their several weeks of training in the North during Exercise Trillium Response, the Canadian forces practiced carrying 75 lbs of supplies and pulling another 200 lbs by sled. If a long term force were to be established or necessary, the difficulties in providing enough supplies to sustain a force of decent size will be significant. Already, companies have spent vast amounts of money, including $6B by Royal Dutch Shell, to determine that they are unable to succeed in the Arctic.

In addition, the logistical issue of supplying troops is further confounded by the extreme cold and fact that forces will not be able to generate their own supplies, they will have to rely on air lifts and drops in order to sustain themselves. As seen in the Berlin Airlift, this can be a very complicated process and costly to sustain. The cold weather conditions of the Arctic will further limit the ability of the Canadians to sustain supplying their troops adequately.

View of Arctic Ocean & North Pole

While there are logistical issues to the idea of having an Arctic force, the issue is important to look at as other nations also consider increasing their claims on the Arctic circle and securing their valuable natural resources. Canada’s training and preparation of troops will have provide them with additional knowledge on the importance and difficulties of supplying and sustaining a force in harsh weather conditions.