NATO is launching a new mission to increase its military presence in the Arctic as Russia ramps up shows of force in the region with bombers, fighter jets, and nuclear-capable submarines.
Officials said the initiative, called "Arctic Sentry," is aimed at strengthening surveillance and deterrence in the Arctic and High North amid growing concern that Moscow is testing the alliance in an area where warming waters are opening new shipping routes and strategic access, reports The New York Times on Wednesday.
"It will leverage NATO's strength to protect our territory and ensure the Arctic and High North remains secure," said Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, the top NATO commander in Europe.
The mission is expected to boost troop levels in the "Cap of the North," including parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland inside the Arctic Circle, and expand maritime patrols in the Norwegian Sea and through the waterways between Greenland, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, known as the GIUK Gap, a key passage between the Arctic and the broader Atlantic Ocean.
NATO also may use the mission to test newer surveillance drones in harsh Arctic conditions, officials and experts said.
U.S. officials signaled the effort reflects a growing alliance focus on the Arctic, and it also comes as President Donald Trump has pressed NATO partners to take the region more seriously.
Experts said allied planning accelerated after Trump's recent talk of the United States controlling Greenland as an early defensive line, which has raised tensions inside the alliance.
"The Arctic has obviously risen in priority for the alliance, and the alliance is responding," U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told reporters.
Russia's military posture in the region has been a central driver.
Since January 2025, Russia has conducted at least 33 military maneuvers in the Arctic, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Much of that activity is based on the Kola Peninsula, where Moscow stations submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads and protects them with coastal, naval and air patrols, including out of Murmansk, home to Russia's Northern Fleet.
NATO officials have long viewed the GIUK Gap as a critical chokepoint, with military officers warning that Russian submarines and surface ships operating there pose some of the highest risks to Europe and North America.
Analysts have also described Russia's use of evasive "cat-and-mouse" tactics tied to illicit oil shipments and potential sabotage of undersea energy and communications infrastructure.
Nordic countries are expected to play a leading role in Arctic Sentry, given their experience operating in the region.
A Nordic air force arrangement already has pilots from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark working together on a weekly basis, experts said.
Britain is also increasing its role.
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to announce that Britain will double the number of troops it deploys to Norway’s Arctic region to 2,000 over the next three years.
Britain is also contributing to a Swedish-led land force in northern Finland of at least 4,000 troops that includes France, Iceland, and Italy, and is expected to become fully operational in the coming months.
"Demands on defense are rising, and Russia poses the greatest threat to Arctic and High North security that we have seen since the Cold War," Healey said in a statement.
NATO plans to deploy about 25,000 troops and personnel for exercises beginning in mid-March, officials said. The alliance is already running similar deterrence efforts in the Baltic Sea region and in Eastern Europe.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.