U.S. President Trump issued a memorandum on Tuesday (9th), asking the relevant departments to formulate a plan to establish the ice -breaking fleet and the North and South pole support bases within 60 days.There are currently only two ice -breaking boats in the United States, which is equivalent to 1/20 of Russia. The US Coast Defense Force has already plans to build an ice -breaking boat. This memo proposes a more specific timetable.Prepare to serve before, and even propose the possibility of building nuclear power breaking ice boats and equipped with defensive weapons.
Proposal to local overseas construction bipolar support bases
Trump issued a memorandum to the State Council, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Land and Safety in order to safeguard the national interests of the United States in the North Pole and Antarctica region, asking the relevant departments to examine the purchase plan of the ice -breaking fleet and submit a report within 60 days.The content includes the country and economic security tasks that can be executed by the medium -sized ice -breaking boat, such as exploration and development resources, laying and maintenance of submarine cables, and the difference between the implementation of heavy ice -breaking boats, thereby determining the best quantity and type of icebreaker.The memorandum also proposes two support bases in the United States and overseas. It requires the relevant departments to make suggestions on the location, and at least one will be located in Alaska.
The U.S. Coast Defense Force had planned to build a heavy type and medium -sized ice -breaking boat, including the signing of more than $ 740 million with a shipbuilder VT Halter Marine in April last year. It is expected to be completed in 2024. This time, the project progress andExpand its scale.The memorandum also instructed the relevant departments to evaluate the ability of the unsigned ice -breaking ship to expand its operation, especially to support national security goals, and discuss the possibility of building a nuclear -powered ice boat, and assessing defense weapons that are sufficient to resist the threats of neighboring competitors.Paul Zukunft, commander of the coast defense, stated in 2017 that the new ice boat should be equipped with anti -ship cruise missiles to resist China and Russia.
The US active ice -breaking boat includes the Polar Star, which has been serving for 44 years, and the Medium -sized HEALY, and both are expected to be suspended by 2029.In comparison, Russia has at least 40 ice -breaking boats, which is currently the only country in the world to operate nuclear power icebreakers.Nuclear -powered ice boats do not need to supply fuels, which can be used as polar long -distance flights and are suitable for operation in the Arctic region.Although China does not have the Arctic coastline, it has also been funded by various infrastructure projects to get involved in the Arctic resource business. At present, there are at least 4 ice -breaking boats.
The size of the two broken ice boats in the United States is about 1/20
With the melting of the climate change, the polar resources and strategic values have attracted much attention from various countries. Especially the new channel opened by the Arctic region helps to shorten the shipping time for 20 days, plus the rich mineral resources and oil and gas resources. In recent yearsfield.Russian President Putin stated in 2017 that it is estimated that the mineral resources in the Arctic region are worth $ 3 billion (approximately HK $ 2.34 trillion).The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the Arctic's oil and natural gas reserves account for 13%(90 billion barrels) and 30%of the world's unsmodal total.The country also made huge investments on the ice -breaking boat to ensure that the North Sea Channel can be navigated as long as possible each year and plans to deploy armed ice -breaking patrol ships.As for Antarctica, it is mainly minerals and fisheries.
The memorandum also proposed that before the new fleet was completed, the relevant departments could consider lease the ice -breaking boat from the partner state as a short and medium -term transitional measure.Some analysts believe that Finland, Canada and Sweden are the most likely. Among them, there are 7 ice breaking boats in Finland, each of Canada and Sweden each.
