US moving extra troops to Alaska — Politico

RT
Sat, 21 Sep 2024 08:09 UTC

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US Military serviceman

Washington has sent additional forces to the region amid an uptick in Russian and Chinese activity, the outlet says.

The US is reinforcing its military presence in Alaska due to increased Russian and Chinese activity off the coast, Politico reported on Friday.

The outlet noted that over the past month, the US has redeployed numerous assets - including the destroyer USS Sterett. In addition, ground forces are now stationed on one of the state's remote islands, and that fighters and other aircraft have been put on heightened alert.

Business Insider reported last week that the deployment included elements of the 11th Airborne Division supported by HIMARS missile systems and counter fire radars to keep an eye on Sino-Russian naval exercises.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) sounded the alarm over an uptick in Russian and Chinese military activities:

"The number of assets have gone way up. It's air, surface and subsurface that the Russians are employing, but they're doing it much more in a joint capacity with China than they've ever done. They're clearly escalatory."

Meanwhile, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) suggested that Russia's military activities come as a response to Washington's support for Kiev in its conflict with Moscow. "I think they're probably also trying to send a message to their own country," he said.

On September 15, the Russian Defense Ministry said two of its Tu-95 strategic bombers flew over the Chukchi Sea in neutral airspace not far from Alaska to practice "carrying out air strikes with air-launched cruise missiles on key facilities of a simulated enemy" while being escorted by several fighter jets.

In July, officials in Moscow announced that Russian and Chinese bombers were on a joint patrol mission in the same area. They stated that the planes complied with all international aviation regulations while being shadowed by fighter jets from unnamed foreign countries.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov vowed that Moscow would protect its interests in the Arctic, saying that NATO nations appear to be eyeing expansion into the region.

Comment: Wherever you are...we are.

Moscow has taken to flexing its muscles in the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic as its relationship with China deepens thanks in part to the war in Ukraine. Largely without allies in Europe to partner with, Russian ships and aircraft have run a series of large-scale exercises in the Pacific as Beijing and Moscow draw closer due to each nation's isolation from the international community, building on economic ties brought about by international sanctions.

Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is warning that it is "fully ready" for a conflict with NATO in the Arctic:

"We see NATO stepping up drills related to possible crises in the Arctic. Our country is fully ready to defend its interests militarily, politically and from the standpoint of defense technologies. The Arctic is not the territory of the North Atlantic alliance."

The Arctic includes territory belonging to eight nations: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Canada, the U.S., Iceland and Russia. All except Russia are NATO members.

In July, North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers flying just 200 miles from Alaska's coast. It marked the first time that assets from both countries had been intercepted while operating together, with aircraft taking off from the same Russian air base. U.S. fighter jets had to launch from an airbase approximately 1,000 miles away.

The new U.S. military deployments and alerts come amid the start of a massive Chinese/Russian exercise in the Sea of Japan dubbed Ocean 2024 that includes dozens of warships and over 120 naval aircraft.

The Russian vessels remained on the Russian side of the Maritime Boundary Line while transiting approximately 30 miles inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone under international law.

U.S. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said Thursday during a Senate hearing in response to questions from Sullivan:

"This is a sustained operation that we have in place to make sure that we meet presence with presence and demonstrate the importance of U.S. sovereignty."

U.S. officials said they are continuing to work closely with NATO allies on intelligence sharing and coordinated responses to Russian activities in the region.