The United States and Canada intend to modernize the defense satellite network and surveillance system in the Arctic region in order to counter the military presence of Russia and China. The Wall Street Journal reports.
According to one of the sources of the publication, US President Joe Biden asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to increase Canada's defense spending, including on improving the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to fight Moscow and Beijing in the Arctic.
The newspaper clarifies that during the Cold War, this command played an important role in the strategy of containing the USSR. The NORAD system has satellites, a ground-based radar station, and air bases – mainly in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic.
Michael Dawson, a former political adviser to the NORAD command from Canada, told the publication that the surveillance system was outdated. According to him, modern Russian and Chinese missiles can fly at five times the speed of sound and over long distances than previous models. Thus, the arctic system may not track them.
Experts from the University of Manitoba estimate that the modernization project could cost countries about $ 15 billion. Canada needs to pay six billion.
Last October, the United States called for cooperation with Russia to “blockade” China in the Arctic. The journalist Henry-Nicholas Grossman, who made such a statement, noted in his material that the PRC authorities have “colonial ambitions” in the Arctic and are trying to consolidate their presence there.
