UK defence: Renewed interest in the Arctic

There has been a renewed interest in Arctic security as the region moves from being one of “high north, low tension” to an area of increasing geopolitical competition. That shift has been driven by the effects of climate change (such as melting ice and rising sea levels) which has the potential to open up new trade routes and economic opportunities, including increasing access to natural resources such as rare earth minerals.

Who are the Arctic states?

There are eight countries with territory within the Arctic Circle: Russia, the United States, Denmark (Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. These countries form the Arctic Council. All the Arctic states, except for Russia, are members of NATO.

The Arctic Ocean is governed according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Some maritime boundaries and the delimitation of the Arctic continental shelf are yet to be resolved.

Cooperation to competition

Since the end of the Cold War, the Arctic states have broadly cooperated on issues such as sustainable development, the environment and scientific research, and have maintained a shared commitment to avoid conflict.

However, cooperation is increasingly under threat as the region takes on greater geopolitical significance, particularly for the major global powers, Russia, China and the United States.

Russian priorities in the Arctic

The Russian Arctic accounts for over a quarter of Russian territory, while its Arctic coastline is over 24,000 km (approximately 53% of the total Arctic Ocean coastline).

Russian foreign policy and military doctrine identifies protecting Russia’s national interests in the Arctic as one of its biggest priorities. These interests include:

• unimpeded access to the high seas, specifically the Atlantic Ocean
• ability to access and protect its natural resources
• freedom of manoeuvre for Russia’s Northern Fleet, including the majority of Russia’s sea-based nuclear deterrent which is based on the Kola Peninsula.

Russia has also expressed an interest in developing the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as a competitive trade route. In its Arctic Strategy to 2035, Russia describes the delineation of its extended continental shelf as “fundamental to national economic security”.

Russia has been expanding its military presence in the Arctic for the last two decades, upgrading its military facilities, reconstituting Cold War military bases in the region, and strengthening its Northern Fleet.

There is significant debate, however, over Russia’s intentions in the Arctic and whether it is seeking to militarise the region or merely ensure the defence of its northern borders and territorial waters. Many Western governments, including the UK, have identified Russia’s military build-up in the Arctic as one of the main threats in the region.

United States in the Arctic

Approximately 15% of the Arctic is US territory (Alaska). In 2022, the Biden administration released a National Strategy for the Arctic Region (PDF) which said that the goal of the US was a region “that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, and cooperative”. However, it also acknowledged increasing competition among Arctic nations and said the US aimed to “both effectively compete and manage tensions”.

To date, the Trump administration has not released a new Arctic strategy. However, President Trump has made clear that the Arctic is a geopolitical priority in his second term. He has given much higher priority to his proposed policy of Greenland becoming part of the US and until his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos at the end of January 2026, had not ruled out taking the territory by military force.

In recent years, questions have been raised in Congress as to whether the US military and the Coast Guard are sufficiently defending US interests in the region (PDF).

China - a self-proclaimed 'near Arctic' state

China has been building its presence in the Arctic over the last three decades and in 2018 declared itself as a ‘near-Arctic state’.

Access to resources and opening up future maritime trade routes are China’s two primary strategic interests in the region. China’s Polar Silk Road initiative specifically seeks to develop shipping lanes through the Arctic, focused initially on the Northern Sea Route (NSR). China’s cooperation with Russia is central to its Arctic ambitions.

NATO and the High North

NATO says that defence of the ‘High North’ is a strategic imperative for the alliance. The addition of Finland and Sweden to the alliance (in 2023 and 2024 respectively) is widely considered to have strengthened NATO’s geopolitical position in the High North.

President Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland, and Arctic security more broadly, prompted calls from several NATO allies, including the UK, for a new NATO mission in the region (Arctic Sentry) that mirrors NATO’s increased military presence in the Baltic Sea and along the alliances’ eastern flank. That operation was formally launched in February 2026.

Relevance of the Arctic to UK national security interests

The UK is not an Arctic state but considers itself “the nearest neighbour to the Arctic region”. As such, it retains considerable interest in the region.

The Integrated Review refresh in 2023 said “developments [in the High North] have direct consequences” for the Euro-Atlantic and the UK’s place within it, and that the UK’s long-term goal is for the region to “return to being a region of high cooperation and low tension”.

The 2025 Strategic Defence Review did not make any specific recommendations with regards to the UK’s approach to the Arctic/ High North. It did, however, acknowledge the Arctic as a region of increasing competition “within the UK’s wider neighbourhood” and that it would become more important to the UK and NATO as it becomes more accessible. The review also set out the Royal Navy’s plan (Atlantic Bastion) for securing the North Atlantic through a networked suite of autonomous capabilities operating alongside warships and aircraft.

In January 2026, the Foreign Secretary said the region was becoming an “ever more critical frontier for NATO” and that Britain is “stepping up on Arctic security”.

The security of the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap (GIUK) is of particular strategic importance to the UK.

UK military capabilities

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not maintain capabilities or units specifically dedicated to the defence of the High North. However, assets across all three services can be utilised to project force in the High North, as required.

The UK also engages with allies in NATO, through the Joint Expeditionary Force, the Northern Group and the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable to share situational awareness and align activity, including training, in the region.

In its 2023 report on UK strategy towards the Arctic (PDF), the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee voiced concern about the lack of “dedicated capabilities for Arctic operations” and said there are “long-standing concerns that the UK has insufficient resources to meet aspirations for a meaningful security presence in the High North and elsewhere”.

When asked in April 2025 whether the MOD had plans to permanently station UK forces in the High North, the government said that the UK was “committed to maintaining a coherent Defence posture in the region and will defend and support our Allies should the need arise”.

In February 2026, the government confirmed that the UK will play a “vital role” in NATO’s new Arctic Sentry mission and that a Carrier Strike Group, led by HMS Prince of Wales, will deploy to the North Atlantic and the High North later in 2026.