Polaris is preparing its Arctic kit for the MRZR Alpha as part of a deal with U.S. Special Operations Command to supply lightweight tactical all-terrain vehicles.
“You don’t have direct access to air if you need to get air. That’s always in the back of your mind when you’re in an environment like this,” Navy diver Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Wilkins said.
Defense Department Regional Centers are international academic institutions for bilateral and multilateral research and training with the goal of building strong relationships with international security leaders.
The mobile hospital, which can function in the caves or head to other theaters, aims to cultivate joint processes and procedures with NATO allies in the region.
Navy leaders are concerned about increased Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic and Chinese submarine activity in the Pacific. The U.S. homeland is no longer a sanctuary from such threats, they warn.
Failure to maintain presence in the Arctic would “cede the space to the Russians or somebody else,” Lewis said, adding that it could also become a space where conflict arises.