Source: foxnews.com
EXCLUSIVE: After U.S. officials detected a sharp rise in Russian and Chinese military incursions near Alaska — including a growing number of joint operations — Sen. Dan Sullivan is warning that the Arctic has become an active security front, pushing Congress to accelerate icebreaker construction, reopen Cold War–era bases and bolster U.S. defenses in the region.Sullivan’s warning comes as new data show foreign military traffic near Alaska climbing sharply, a trend he says has gone largely unnoticed outside the region even as Moscow and Beijing coordinate more closely. He argues the activity has exposed how thin U.S. Arctic capabilities have become — and why Washington is now scrambling to catch up."Let’s just say, the world's largest fleet of oceanographic survey ships wasn't off the coast of Alaska to 'save the whales'," Sullivan told Fox News Digital in an interview.President Donald Trump's ongoing friction with Denmark over Greenland reflects the growing importance of the Arctic for the administration, Sullivan said. As melting ice opens new shipping lanes, energy access and military routes, Alaska is becoming a front line in the contest for economic and strategic dominance.TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS 'TWO DOG SLEDS' AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORYPlans to reboot far-flung military operations off Russia's back door — recently revisited in Tom Cruise's latest "Mission: Impossible" installment — along with crucial new port infrastructure and a major cash infusion to the U.S. Coast Guard are all efforts to demonstrate the only thing America's adversaries respect, Sullivan said: "Power."Sullivan, R-Alaska, recently chaired a Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing examining the U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic presenceCoast Guard’s Arctic presence, and discussed a new U.S.-Finnish deal to secure crucial new icebreaker craft, as well as funding from the recent tax-cut law funding for at least three USCG Arctic security cutters amid a recor
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