Analysis: U.S. prepares Alaska for a possible conflict with Russia

The U.S. military predicts that in the event of a hypothetical conflict between the United States and China or Russia in the Pacific, even the remote state of Alaska will become a battlefield.

US special operations forces are currently conducting exercises to protect Shem Island, which is part of the Aleutian Islands. During these exercises, special forces from the Special Operations Command North (SOCNORTH) are trained to destroy low-flying small targets and enemy SSO fighters that could attack the Aleutian Archipelago or even Alaska.

Shemya Island is strategically important for the defense of the northern United States. The AN / FPS-108 Cobra Dane radar, which is part of the missile defense system, is located above the horizon on this island. Shemya Island also has an airport and other elements of the airport infrastructure that allow it to receive and service heavy transport aircraft and strategic bombers.

Shem Island was of strategic importance to the United States during the Cold War as a leading defensive post against the USSR. Now the US military is also speculating that Shemya could become a battlefield in a hypothetical conflict between the United States and China or Russia in the Pacific.

Accordingly, radars above the horizon and other objects on the island can be hit either by cruise missiles or by enemy sabotage groups in the event of a “big war”. The US Special Operations Forces in the region are preparing for the second scenario. The NORAD Noble Defender exercises, which are currently being held in Alaska, are dedicated to this.

Washington has long begun to fortify Alaska
The two most powerful military forces continue to lengthen and replenish their armaments. Russia is increasingly securing its presence in the Arctic region by sending unequivocal signals to Washington. For its part, the United States has not backed down and is not giving Moscow a chance to think that it will change its position on the Russians.

Let’s just recall that Washington sends a huge F-22 and F-35 squadron to Alaska, giving a clear signal to Moscow and Beijing that everything was still to come. Finally, Washington assured the world that it would not allow a Russian invasion by deciding to build a deep-sea port in the Arctic Circle.

But the message from Washington is more than clear – nearly 150 fifth-generation fighters will be stationed in Alaska, the only single deployment of such an air force in the world. These figures become even more important when we do simple mathematics and come to the conclusion that 187 F-22s and 250 F-35s are actually in operation at the moment.

But not everything ends here. In addition to air force equipment, the Eielson military base in Alaska expects to now have doubled, even tripled personnel from soldiers, specialists and engineers, analysts and tacticians, which suggests that based on the condition of current personnel, what is expected to arrive as military units in the coming months until the end of 2021 is nearly 1,500 servicemen.

In parallel with the entire process of redeploying troops, Washington will supplement the existing air base with additional aircraft, saying that by the end of 2021 the base should have at least nearly 60 more F-35 fighters. If we talk in numbers – nearly $ 500 million. it will cost the American taxpayer this pleasure in Alaska. But with a military budget of nearly $ 740 billion, that’s “pocket money.”