Guest P:ost by Robert Smol.
As the war in Ukraine heats up, it may be prudent for Canada to finally take serious strategic stock of Russia’s other major military buildup.
It’s a militarized front which, like Ukraine, involves disputed territorial and maritime claims, pitting Vladimir Putin’s Russia against democratic countries within and outside the NATO alliance.
Like Ukraine, it is also perceived by Putin as an integral part of Russia.
It holds growing strategic importance in trade, defense and resource extraction, and it is a front where Russia has been amassing unprecedented levels of military hardware and personnel.
It is the Arctic in 2022.
On the Russian shores of this disputed maritime and land border with Canada, Scandinavia and the United States stand new or expanded and modernized Russian Arctic coastal military bases at Rogachevo, Pechenga, Severomorsk, Tiksi, Zvyozdny, Sredny Ostrov, Nagurskoye, and Temp, to name just a few.
These modern Arctic warfare bases house, operate and are testing some of Russia’s most advanced weapons, such as the MIG 31BM fighter jet and the Poseidon 2M39 nuclear stealth torpedo, and TOR-M2DT missiles.
This reality has not been lost to NATO members Denmark and Norway, or allied nations such as Sweden and Finland who, like the U.S., have been upgrading and expanding their military presence in the region with professionally trained combat personnel and newly acquired equipment.
Canada, with our poorly equipped, emasculated military remains largely absent from the region.
Let us momentarily dispense with the widespread (and I daresay naïve) assumption driving Canada’s defense policy: that the U.S. is at Canada’s beck and call, to expend whatever is necessary in American military resources and American military lives to defend every square kilometre of Canada, at no corresponding cost or effort to Canadians.
Where would we be if our defence were, first and foremost, up to us?
The answer is: as prepared and battle-ready as an administrative headquarters in Yellowknife can be alongside a company-sized detachment of part-time Army reservists nearby.
As martially worthy of Putin’s awe as 440 Squadron, Canada’s only permanent air force squadron in the Arctic which mans a “fleet” of four non-combat CC-138 twin-otter utility aircraft.
As stern in our willingness to stand our ground as the 55-person (not all military) signals station (CFS Alert) on Ellesmere Island.
As worthy a match for the Russian warships and nuclear submarines, with their increasingly sophisticated weapons, as our lumbering constabulary arctic patrol vessels (only one is in operation so far), each designed to tout a single mounted machine gun on their deck.
That is the extent of Canada’s “boots-in-the-snow” professional military capability in the Arctic.
Yes, we do have about 5,000 local Canadian Rangers in the North — ready to do just about everything but actually go to war for Canada.
Professionally, that is a good thing since these non-combat reserve auxiliaries from northern communities sponsored by the Department of National Defense receive almost no military training.
They have done yeoman service on occasion when community assistance is needed in operations such as search-and-rescue. And, especially during this pandemic, these temporary augmenters have stepped up to provide needed assistance to beleaguered communities.
Canadian Rangers are worthy civil defense volunteers, but in no way are they soldiers.
The way I see it anyway!
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