‘They were spying’: Sullivan sounds alarm on joint Russia-China moves in US Arctic zone
What's the endgame here?
Joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft and vessels have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, Sen. Dan Sullivan said in an interview with Fox News Digital, warning the activity amounts to coordinated pressure on America’s northern defenses.
Sullivan, R-Alaska, said data compiled by his office shows mostly airborne incursions — and at times joint patrols — along with several naval and "research" vessels operating inside the ADIZ, a buffer zone where aircraft must identify themselves but are not automatically denied access.
"They were spying on us," Sullivan said, arguing the missions amount to strategic surveillance and have accelerated efforts to reopen the Navy base at Adak and expand Arctic infrastructure.
Sullivan led a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last month that secured $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for infrastructure upgrades such as a deepwater port in Nome — one of the closest U.S. cities to Russia — and additional Arctic icebreakers. The U.S. currently operates two icebreakers, one of which is out of service, compared with Russia’s reported 54.
RUSSIA, CHINA SQUEEZE US ARCTIC DEFENSE ZONE AS TRUMP EYES GREENLAND
Among the projects is a plan to reopen the military base on Adak Island near the end of the Aleutian chain, roughly 6,000 miles from Washington but on Russia’s doorstep.
Adak played a key role during World War II, when Japanese forces attacked parts of the Aleutians, and it later served as a Cold War outpost monitoring Soviet activity in the North Pacific.
"We have Adak Navy Base being reopened. We have this strategic deepwater port of Nome that's finally being built [where] every essential Navy or Coast Guard asset with the exception of an aircraft carrier can port, and the icebreaker Storis being homeported in Juneau. There's a lot going on," Sullivan said. "We're continuing to press it, and you know what I like to do with all the military services is press, press, press, press."
TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS 'TWO DOG SLEDS' AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY
Adak also hosts a 20-million-gallon fuel repository, Sullivan said, adding that revitalizing the compound would give U.S. destroyers and other vessels a crucial waypoint as malign activity heats up.
Sullivan said the incursions should concern all Americans, dismissing any suggestion the vessels were conducting benign research or trying to "save the whales."
"They were there spying on us and looking at submarine routes, looking at cables," he said, …
What's the endgame here?
Joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft and vessels have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, Sen. Dan Sullivan said in an interview with Fox News Digital, warning the activity amounts to coordinated pressure on America’s northern defenses.
Sullivan, R-Alaska, said data compiled by his office shows mostly airborne incursions — and at times joint patrols — along with several naval and "research" vessels operating inside the ADIZ, a buffer zone where aircraft must identify themselves but are not automatically denied access.
"They were spying on us," Sullivan said, arguing the missions amount to strategic surveillance and have accelerated efforts to reopen the Navy base at Adak and expand Arctic infrastructure.
Sullivan led a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last month that secured $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for infrastructure upgrades such as a deepwater port in Nome — one of the closest U.S. cities to Russia — and additional Arctic icebreakers. The U.S. currently operates two icebreakers, one of which is out of service, compared with Russia’s reported 54.
RUSSIA, CHINA SQUEEZE US ARCTIC DEFENSE ZONE AS TRUMP EYES GREENLAND
Among the projects is a plan to reopen the military base on Adak Island near the end of the Aleutian chain, roughly 6,000 miles from Washington but on Russia’s doorstep.
Adak played a key role during World War II, when Japanese forces attacked parts of the Aleutians, and it later served as a Cold War outpost monitoring Soviet activity in the North Pacific.
"We have Adak Navy Base being reopened. We have this strategic deepwater port of Nome that's finally being built [where] every essential Navy or Coast Guard asset with the exception of an aircraft carrier can port, and the icebreaker Storis being homeported in Juneau. There's a lot going on," Sullivan said. "We're continuing to press it, and you know what I like to do with all the military services is press, press, press, press."
TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS 'TWO DOG SLEDS' AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY
Adak also hosts a 20-million-gallon fuel repository, Sullivan said, adding that revitalizing the compound would give U.S. destroyers and other vessels a crucial waypoint as malign activity heats up.
Sullivan said the incursions should concern all Americans, dismissing any suggestion the vessels were conducting benign research or trying to "save the whales."
"They were there spying on us and looking at submarine routes, looking at cables," he said, …
‘They were spying’: Sullivan sounds alarm on joint Russia-China moves in US Arctic zone
What's the endgame here?
Joint Russian and Chinese military aircraft and vessels have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, Sen. Dan Sullivan said in an interview with Fox News Digital, warning the activity amounts to coordinated pressure on America’s northern defenses.
Sullivan, R-Alaska, said data compiled by his office shows mostly airborne incursions — and at times joint patrols — along with several naval and "research" vessels operating inside the ADIZ, a buffer zone where aircraft must identify themselves but are not automatically denied access.
"They were spying on us," Sullivan said, arguing the missions amount to strategic surveillance and have accelerated efforts to reopen the Navy base at Adak and expand Arctic infrastructure.
Sullivan led a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing last month that secured $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for infrastructure upgrades such as a deepwater port in Nome — one of the closest U.S. cities to Russia — and additional Arctic icebreakers. The U.S. currently operates two icebreakers, one of which is out of service, compared with Russia’s reported 54.
RUSSIA, CHINA SQUEEZE US ARCTIC DEFENSE ZONE AS TRUMP EYES GREENLAND
Among the projects is a plan to reopen the military base on Adak Island near the end of the Aleutian chain, roughly 6,000 miles from Washington but on Russia’s doorstep.
Adak played a key role during World War II, when Japanese forces attacked parts of the Aleutians, and it later served as a Cold War outpost monitoring Soviet activity in the North Pacific.
"We have Adak Navy Base being reopened. We have this strategic deepwater port of Nome that's finally being built [where] every essential Navy or Coast Guard asset with the exception of an aircraft carrier can port, and the icebreaker Storis being homeported in Juneau. There's a lot going on," Sullivan said. "We're continuing to press it, and you know what I like to do with all the military services is press, press, press, press."
TRUMP SAYS GREENLAND'S DEFENSE IS 'TWO DOG SLEDS' AS HE PUSHES FOR US ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY
Adak also hosts a 20-million-gallon fuel repository, Sullivan said, adding that revitalizing the compound would give U.S. destroyers and other vessels a crucial waypoint as malign activity heats up.
Sullivan said the incursions should concern all Americans, dismissing any suggestion the vessels were conducting benign research or trying to "save the whales."
"They were there spying on us and looking at submarine routes, looking at cables," he said, …
