Arctic Military Exercises: NATO Readiness Against Russian Aggression

2024-03-11 19:03:00
Italian marines take position during an amphibious assault demonstration, part of the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on March 10, 2024, at sea near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Atte Ohman, a young Finnish conscript, prepares to disembark on a freezing Norwegian beach, as part of a NATO exercise in the Arctic.

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The maneuver, which takes place in the Arctic, is part of NATO’s Steadfast military exercises, the most important of the US-led Alliance since the end of the Cold War.

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For weeks, the exercises mobilize nearly 90,000 men and women and dozens of ships, armored vehicles and combat aircraft.

While Italian paratroopers descend onto the beach from helicopters, Swedish landing barges converge on the scene and French alpine troops, on skis, stand by.

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The message is clear: NATO is ready to defend itself once morest an increasingly aggressive Russia, two years following Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Swedish CB90 class fast assault boat in action during the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on March 10, 2024, at sea near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Since then, the Alliance has been strengthened with the entry of Finland and Sweden, which became its 32nd member on Thursday.

“We show that we are ready to defend our territories and it is very important to act together to strengthen our capabilities,” explained the Swedish Defense Minister, Pal Jonson, from a point located on the border between Norway and Finland.

“At the moment, Russian troops are bogged down in Ukraine, but Russia has communicated its great ambitions to reconstitute and adapt its forces,” he said.

The possibility of Russia attacking a NATO member should not be excluded. As Moscow has put its economy into war mode, Western powers are experiencing increasing difficulties in providing Kiev with the weapons and ammunition it demands.

French and Finnish marines board a Swedish CB90-class fast assault craft before an amphibious assault demonstration during the Nordic Response 24 military exercise March 10, 2024, at sea near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

The head of Norway’s armed forces, Eirik Kristoffersen, says the number of Russian troops stationed near his country’s border is less than a fifth of what it was before the invasion of Ukraine.

“But on the maritime and air front, as well as from the point of view of nuclear forces, they kept all their forces intact in the region,” he says.

The Arctic region is now at the center of competition between Russia and NATO. Since President Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, Russian forces have continued to increase their presence in the area.

Both Finland and Sweden are trying to pressure their new allies to increasingly compete with Moscow in that key region.

Marines in action during an amphibious assault demonstration, part of the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on March 10, 2024, at sea near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

The Arctic is becoming a strategic area and that is why “Russia is investing a lot here, and China is also monitoring the area,” explains Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen.

According to Rear Admiral David Patchell, deputy commander of the US Second Fleet, climate change will open, by a conservative estimate, access to important resources worth regarding $1 trillion in the region.

“Working in those conditions is a big shock. We rarely see snow like this every day,” said US Marine Corporal Joshua Maddox.

Italian Marines in action during an amphibious assault demonstration, part of the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on March 10, 2024, at sea near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway. Nordic Response 24 is part of the broader NATO exercise Steadfast Defender (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

“The biggest challenge is psychological, you just have to be very well prepared,” he said.

His colleague in the Marines, Sergeant Joshua Perezchoa, stated for his part that “if Putin decides to go further” and act worse “than what he is already doing,” he will be there “to play my role, to help the other countries”.

“It is our mission,” he assured.

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