NGA Tearline: Why is there a new Russian military facility 300 miles from Alaska?

Wrangel Island exemplifies Russia’s growing Arctic military footprint and its strategic ambitions.

What is NGA Tearline?

NGA is partnering with expert private groups to grow public-facing, authoritative open source intelligence on various strategic and humanitarian intelligence topics that tend to be under-reported within long-form format. This authoritative open source content will be cited for internal purposes and it will grow public trust by increasing transparency around shared public-private interest in various strategic and humanitarian intelligence topics that are fit for public consumption.

Learn more about NGA Tearline.

Read the Report

In 2007 Russia re-prioritized the Arctic in keeping with Vladimir Putin's vision of restoring Russia's status as a great power. Now more than a decade later, Russia's military returns to the Arctic with strategic implications for the United States.

An early warning and cueing radar system on Wrangel Island has limited strategic value as a stand-alone piece of equipment. However, when viewed as part of a larger network of state-of-the-art radars covering the entirety of Russia’s northern borders, including the Arctic Ocean and Russia’s coastline, it may have greater strategic importance.

Read more of this intelligence report on Tearline.