Drones have brought in a whole range of new possibilities in warfare and nations are playing catch-up. Arctic countries are not out of the race, either. Governments in the world’s far north are seeking to overcome such challenges as the region comes increasingly into the geopolitical spotlight.
Russia and China have stepped up military activity in the Arctic, while NATO states in the region are reporting more acts of sabotage on energy and communications lines. President Donald Trump has recently revived U.S. claims to Greenland.
The conflict in Ukraine, meanwhile, has shown that unmanned aircraft can provide critical intelligence and strike capabilities on the battlefield.
The United States, which sees the Arctic as crucial for territorial defence and its early warning system against nuclear attacks, said in a July strategy document it would focus on unmanned technology to counter Chinese-Russian collaboration there. Russian and Chinese bomber planes flew together off the coast of Alaska in July and their coast guard ships sailed together through the Bering Strait in October.
But drones – whether multicopters or fixed wing models – are vulnerable. Only the largest, long-range models have enough power for anti-icing systems like those used by aircraft. Cold, fog, rain or snow can cause a malfunction or crash.
With countries boosting military spending, a Reuters survey of 14 companies and six defence ministries and armed forces in northern Europe and America shows the industry working at pace to buy or develop drones that can endure icy conditions, and increasing urgency among NATO states to acquire them.
“We are all having to catch up with Ukraine and Russia,” said General Major Lars Lervik, head of the Norwegian Army.
No global data is publicly available on states’ military drone fleets, but Lervik said the war in Ukraine has given Moscow and Kyiv valuable experience of drone technology that NATO countries lack.
Russia, whose military began building up a drone fleet in the Arctic in 2014, took an early lead in the race to control the Northern Sea Route, a passage between Europe and Asia along Russia’s northern coast, said James Patton Rogers, a drone expert at Cornell University and a UN and NATO policy adviser.
Russia’s Zala Aero, part of the Kalashnikov Group, already offers drones designed for extreme Arctic conditions and Russia has also said its long-range S-70 Okhotnik combat drone can operate at minus 12 Celsius and will be deployed there.
“We’re moving towards a point where Russia will not only have unarmed surveillance drone systems along the Northern Sea Route, but potentially armed systems that are constantly patrolling those areas as well,” said Rogers.
He said NATO had been slow to devise a coherent response. NATO said it has strengthened its presence in the Arctic and set up a new Command to keep Atlantic lines free and secure; NATO states are investing in new air and maritime capabilities.
The Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment on that but said in an email the U.S. would continue to prioritise security in the Western Hemisphere and its presence in the Arctic.
The U.S. has already invested heavily in long-range drones to monitor and gather real-time information from the Arctic – a vast region where radar and satellite coverage are limited. These craft can operate at lower altitudes for surveillance, but if they do they face the same risk of icing as smaller models.
The risk to drones is highest in temperatures just either side of freezing – between 8 degrees and minus 10 degrees Celsius, according to drone pilots and experts. A thin layer of ice forms on propellers and wings and destroys the aerodynamic.
Startups And Field Tests
The weatherproof model Finland bought can be purchased on the open market for around $9,000. It was designed for the U.S. Army and made in the United States by Paris-listed Parrot SA, which is majority-owned by its CEO, Henri Seydoux.
Parrot says on its website it has sold models to 19 countries including Sweden and Norway, but did not respond to requests for further comment.
Beyond this, governments and large aerospace firms are mainly turning to startups and small companies for innovative solutions, Stacy Cummings, head of NATO’s support and procurement agency, told Reuters. NATO will hold a session this year to bring together governments and companies.
Manufacturers of small and medium-sized multicopter drones are experimenting with blade shapes: for instance, propellers that spin so fast that snow or ice is instantly transformed into gas.
It is easier to avoid bad weather with smaller drones because they don’t fly very far, experts say. Larger models have ranges up to hundreds of miles and fixed wings, which makes it harder to dodge rain and snow.
“There are definitely some challenges, especially with humidity and icing conditions as well as some of the electronics as they get colder,” Alex Larade, a Canadian lieutenant serving in the artillery unit of NATO’s multinational brigade in Latvia, told Reuters during an exercise with a fixed-wing Blackjack drone in a muddy field in Adazi, Latvia in November.
“At this time, we haven’t had the experience in the Arctic to actually see just how far we can push the air vehicle,” he said. Boeing subsidiary Insitu, which made the craft, said the drone has not been rated for icing conditions, but it is working with Norwegian start-up Ubiq Aerospace to optimize it.
Team BharatShakti
(With Inputs from Reuters)
