U.S. Marines and sailors prepare to launch an RQ-20 Puma unmanned aircraft system from a combat rubber reconnaissance craft during Operation Baltic Sentry in Southern Finland, Feb. 28, 2025. NATO is poised to step up its military presence in the Arctic region with a new surveillance mission similar to Baltic Sentry, an alliance spokesman said. (Brian Bolin Jr./U.S. Marine Corp)
NATO is poised to step up its military presence in the Arctic region with a new surveillance mission modeled along the lines of a similar effort in the Baltics, an alliance spokesman said this week.
“The activity will even further strengthen NATO’s posture in the Arctic and High North,” Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesperson, said Thursday.
Planning for the effort, to be called Arctic Sentry, is already underway, said O’Donnell, who did not indicate when the operation might launch.
The initiative is the latest example of how NATO is stepping up efforts aimed at countering Russia in northern Europe and along the alliance’s eastern flank. One year ago, NATO began Baltic Sentry, which was prompted by a series of suspected undersea sabotage incidents that resulted in damage to energy pipelines and communication cables.
The effort has incorporated a wide range of naval surveillance drones, warships, submarines and aircraft to identify and track ships.
Allied officials have said the mission has paid off over the past year with fewer instances of mischief-making in the Baltic Sea.
NATO’s plan to boost operations in the High North comes as the Arctic as a whole has become a major focal point for the alliance. President Donald Trump has argued that the alliance is vulnerable to Russian and Chinese influence in the region. Trump has cited such concerns as a justification for the United States to take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
Trump’s push for control of the territory has rattled some members of the alliance. However, tensions appear to have eased in recent weeks following Trump’s visit last month to an economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. In Davos, Trump said he and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had reached the “framework of a future deal” on Greenland. Details of the plan, however, have yet to emerge.
