The US government had just announced an ambitious plan to develop the Arctic in competition with China and Russia, but the Pentagon immediately dropped the ball.

Earlier this year, China and Russia officially "officially announced" that they would jointly develop the Arctic route, which put a lot of pressure on the United States. Because of the existence of Alaska, the United States has always claimed to be an Arctic country and coveted the resources of the Arctic. In addition to wanting to form a military encirclement against Russia, the United States has tried hard to attract the three Nordic countries to join NATO. Another important reason is that it wants to expand its voice in Arctic affairs and hedge against Russia's influence in the Arctic. But now, Russia has chosen to pull China into the game to jointly develop the Arctic, and the balance of power has been broken at once.

 

      First, China's infrastructure capacity, manufacturing capacity, and resources that can be invested in the Arctic are obviously not something that several Nordic countries can compete with. Second, after China and Russia began to cooperate on crisis affairs, military activities around the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea have become more and more frequent. Warships and military aircraft from both China and Russia frequently approach Alaska, pushing up the security anxiety of the United States. Against this background, the United States has also elevated the development of the Arctic to a strategic level, wanting to compete with China and Russia. But the problem is that on the issue of the Arctic, the United States' ideals are full, but the reality is very skinny. Because Russia has a fleet of 40 icebreakers in its hands, it is "rich and powerful" on the issue of Arctic development. In July this year, the US media broke the news that Russia directly sent the "Siberia" nuclear-powered icebreaker to escort Chinese container ships and explore the Arctic route.

How many main icebreakers does the United States have? 2. And recently, one of them caught fire and burned. This story started in July. Seeing that China and Russia were busy in the Arctic, the United States was very jealous, so it took out its remaining assets and followed suit to go to the Arctic to show its presence. But unexpectedly, when it rained, one of the Healy icebreakers suddenly had an "electrical fire" while performing a patrol mission, burning the transformer. This is not the end. The latest news is that after the burnt icebreaker returned to the port for repairs, it was found that the damage was too serious, affecting the main engine. According to the revelation of the U.S. Naval Institute, all patrol plans for this icebreaker have been canceled. In other words, the United States now has only one icebreaker available. The U.S. government's Arctic dream has been shattered before it even began.

Of course, the United States now has another way, which is to "save the country in a roundabout way." During this year's NATO summit, the United States brought Finland into the partnership, hoping to create an "icebreaker" alliance jointly formed by Canada, Finland and the United States. Because Finland has about 8 icebreakers on hand, it can help the United States solve urgent problems. But now, the alliance has just set up the framework, and the United States has made this fire joke. Finland is probably also wondering whether it should continue to cooperate with the United States and rush to the front line against China and Russia on the Arctic issue. Originally, the younger brother followed the boss to eat meat and drink soup, but now there is no meat soup, and the younger brother has become the absolute main force. Who is the big brother?