Western allies boost Arctic presence

The framework deal on Greenland agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump would require NATO allies to boost Arctic security, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says

President Trump is keen to develop new Golden Dome missile defence system, for which he says Greenland is crucial

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Svalbard (Norway)

ARCTIC CIRCLE 
ARCTIC OCEAN
Barents Sea
ATLANTIC OCEAN
PACIFIC OCEAN
Pituffik Space Base (U.S.)
Nuuk
Alert
Nanisivik
Resolute
BayIqaluit
Yellowknife
Rankin Inlet
1,000km
600 miles
Inuvik
Kangilinnguit
Kangerlussuaq
Keflavik
Faroe Islands (Denmark)
Lulea
Boden
Novaya Zemlya
Test launch of nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile carried out last October
Severomorsk: HQ of Russia’s Northern Fleet, operating six of country's 12 nuclear-armed submarines
Rovaniemi
Sodankylä
Kola Peninsula
FINLAND
Ørland
Rygge
Bodø
Eielson Air Force Base
Elmendorf Air Force Base
Nagurskoye Air Base
Russia’s northernmost Arctic military installation
Tiksi base
Temp
Rogachevo
CANADA
Ice extent Sep 2025
North Pole
RUSSIA
ALASKA (U.S.)
GREENLAND (Denmark)
NORWAY
ICELAND
DENMARK
SWEDEN
Key military base

CANADA
Six key bases in Arctic security include Alert – signals intelligence station and world’s northernmost permanently inhabited
 settlement

JAC also present at four smaller military stations in eastern and north-eastern Greenland

NORWAY: Four air bases, including Bodø and Ørland Air Base – home to new F-35 fighter jets –, two navy bases, several army bases and Rygge Air Station – reception centre for NATO reinforcements in event of attack

ICELAND
Has no military, but Keflavik Air Base hosts U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime-patrol aircraft in rotational deployment

RUSSIA
Has re-opened and modernised tens of Cold War-era bases in Arctic since 2005

Kola Peninsula hosts around two-thirds of Russia’s nuclear second-strike forces – its capacity to retaliate after nuclear attack

UNITED STATES
Most of ​its Arctic forces located across eight bases in Alaska – 22,000 military personnel

Canada procuring two over-the-horizon radar systems under U.S.- Canada military organisation NORAD – North American Aerospace Defense Command

DENMARK
Joint Arctic Command HQ is in Greenland’s capital Nuuk; 150 military and civilian personnel

Sources: Reuters, BBC, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Chatham House, SIPRI
Pictures: Getty Images
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