Arctic Security
The Arctic is of increasing strategic importance for homeland security and power projection, yet these missions are challenged by the region’s harsh environments and climates, food insecurity, and vast distances between human settlements. Receding sea ice and permafrost thaw, combined with geopolitical disputes over resources and new economic opportunities such as tourism and infrastructure development, are contributing to changing transportation opportunities, resource extraction, and information needs from military, industrial, commercial, and community perspectives. New shipping routes are opening and resources such as minerals, oil, and commercial fishing are becoming more available. Meanwhile, military presence in the Arctic from China and Russia has significantly increased, intensifying strategic competition in the region and threatening Arctic security.
Missions: NSI-led research supports many needs highlighted in the 2024 Department of Defense Arctic Strategy, including improved domain awareness, societal stability, and resilient communications. Our research also supports the Department of Defense’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions across military lands and installations to enhance climate readiness and resilience. Finally, resilient energy is essential to military capability. The Department of Defense requires innovation across all aspects of energy operations. This is particularly relevant across regions characterized by remote conditions and cold climates such as Alaska and across the Arctic.
Challenges: The Arctic is facing rapid changes in climate, the environment, and geopolitics. It is also the shortest and least protected venue of warfare to North America. As a result, the Arctic is critical for the homeland defense mission as well as power projection. However, increased wildfire, permafrost thaw, coastal erosion, and loss of sea ice are leading to unstable ground and more complex navigation, negatively impacting the training mission.
CU Strengths: CU is an international leader in aerospace, nanotechnology, sustainable energy, and cold regions research. NSI’s Arctic Security program focuses on three core strengths. Sensing and operations: We are leaders in the monitoring and remote detection of sea ice, permafrost, and coastline erosion, and develop new tools for developing near-future projections for use in training and operations. Resilient and sustainable energy: We conduct high TRL level research on microgrids, cold-tolerant energy production and storage, as well as novel construction materials that reduce carbon emissions and allow for efficient operations in remote and dispersed environments. Resilient communications: We take an interdisciplinary approach to cybersecurity in the Arctic. Security of data and communications is needed for homeland defense as well as to support societal stability and Indigenous governance across the Arctic, a goal of the Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy.