Arctic forces fleet to look north

[unhappycamper]

In this March 2007 photo, the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine Alexandria (SSN 757) is submerged after surfacing through two feet of ice during ICEX-07, a U.S. Navy and Royal Navy exercise conducted on and under a drifting ice floe about 180 nautical miles off the north coast of Alaska. The oceanographer and navigator of the Navy says that it is more likely junior sailors, not just submariners and icebreaker crews, will see action as the polar ice cap melts.


Arctic forces fleet to look north
By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Feb 22, 2009 13:12:53 EST

Sailors should expect more deployments to the icy North, thanks to the melting ice caps and opening of waterways, the Navy’s top oceanographer said.

Rear Adm. David Gove, the oceanographer and navigator of the Navy, said increased maritime traffic, combined with international disputes over access to oil, minerals and natural gas, will mean sailors used to the Atlantic and Pacific soon will be sailing into a realm known only to submariners and icebreaker crews.

“I’d say junior sailors in the Navy today will likely see increasing operations in the Arctic, including exercises, freedom of navigation demonstrations, deterrent (patrols) and possibly security deployments,” Gove said.

Gove knows the region better than most. As navigator on the now-retired attack submarine Flying Fish, he spent a month under the thick Arctic pack ice during the Cold War.

Today U.S. submarines regularly take the shortcut across the top of the globe and train beneath the ice. But scientific measurements have shown the polar ice cap is melting quickly, exposing the area to competition for sovereignty, resources and passage rights.


Rest of article at: http://navytimes.com/news/2009/02/navy_arcticops_022209/%2e