Today, the Department of Defense (DOD) released its 2024 DOD Arctic Strategy. This is the first update to DOD’s approach to the region since 2019.
“The Arctic region of the United States is critical to the defense of our homeland, the protection of U.S. national sovereignty, and the preservation of our defense treaty commitments,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. “Our Arctic strategy will guide the Department’s efforts to ensure that the Arctic remains a secure and stable region.”
The 2024 DOD Arctic Strategy lays out steps DOD will take, working alongside our Allies and partners, to preserve the Arctic as a secure and stable region in which the U.S. Homeland is defended and our vital national interests are safeguarded. It builds upon guidance laid out in the 2022 National Security Strategy and 2022 National Defense Strategy and is part of DODs effort to implement the 2022 National Strategy for the Arctic Region.
“This strategy is very action oriented, which distinguishes it from previous Arctic Strategies” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arctic & Global Resilience Iris Ferguson said. “We unpack where we need to sustain our investments, especially in critical capabilities. What do we have to see? How do we communicate? Do we have the right equipment to operate in the region? My office exists to champion these capabilities, which are vital to the successful implementation of our strategy.”
The Arctic region is undergoing rapid change, both strategically and physically. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), which remains DOD’s pacing challenge, seeks increasing access and influence in the Arctic, while Russia remains an acute threat in the region despite its losses in Ukraine. Increasingly, these two competitors are collaborating in the Arctic with implications for the security of the United States and our Allies and partners. At the same time, Finland and Sweden’s historic decision to join NATO brings all like-minded Arctic states into the NATO Alliance and presents new opportunities for collaboration and cooperation. All of this is underscored by the impact of climate change on the Arctic, which is warming at least three times faster than the rest of the world and increasingly opening to more human activity.
To address this dynamic security environment, DOD will adopt a “monitor-and-respond” approach to the Arctic, supported by robust domain awareness cooperation with our highly capable Allies and partners, and underpinned by the deterrent value of DOD’s ability to deploy the Joint Force globally at the time and place of our choosing. The ways DOD will execute this approach are grouped into three main lines of effort:
- DOD will enhance its capabilities to campaign in the Arctic especially its domain awareness, communications, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.
- DOD will engage with Allies and partners to uphold defense and deterrence in the Arctic, build interoperability, and increase its understanding of how to operate in the region.
- DOD will exercise calibrated presence in the Arctic by regularly training in the region and conducting routine operations critical to upholding deterrence and homeland defense.
