Arctic Security Is Increasingly under Threat. Drones Can Help.

Jul 26, 2023 | Kirk Allen
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As the Arctic continues to be fundamentally reshaped, the United States and its allies in the region will need to quickly adapt by strengthening their collective security and expanding their Arctic awareness. Arctic-ready unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) can help them adjust to the changing landscape.

The transformation of the Arctic—one of the world’s harshest environments—is being fueled by two significant factors: climate change and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia controls 53 percent of the Arctic Ocean coastline and has made massive investments in building and modernizing its Arctic bases, fleets, and weapons systems over the past two decades.

With Arctic security challenges on the rise, the United States and NATO need to rapidly strengthen their collective security in the tundra. In the short term, Arctic-ready UAS could bolster joint forces’ and civil authorities’ abilities to collect and deliver actionable information over satellite to the Arctic 7 and the wider allied intelligence community, while removing risk to human pilots and decreasing the overall cost of expanded and sustained security operations.