Thinning Arctic ice reveals naval capability gaps and new opportunities
The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Delaware (SSN 791) is one of the US Navy’s vessels that can operate in Arctic conditions. (Photo: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
As sea ice extent hits a record low and geopolitical tensions increase in the High North, navies are contending to adopt the technologies needed to operate beneath an increasingly unpredictable Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic is no longer a frozen frontier of secondary concern. Record-low ice extents, intensifying Russian naval activity and growing allied interest in under-ice deterrence have converged to make subsea operations in the High North a capability challenge.
At UDT 2026 in London, Eisha Home, senior marine engineer at BMT, a UK-headquartered maritime design, engineering and risk management consultancy, laid out the scale of the challenge.
Speaking during a session, Home outlined the environmental and technological barriers that must be overcome if allied submarines are to maintain deterrence in the region.
A changing environment, an unchanged imperative
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