Greenland under the lens: America's icy strategic asset
Statements by Donald Trump proposing the annexation of Greenland to the USA have triggered a political storm. Regardless, Greenland remains a key area for the security of the USA. The Americans stationed there face not only an extreme climate but also radioactive contamination and ice sheet movements that damage under-ice installations. What is the strategic significance of this northern island?
In the 1960s, the U.S. strategic air force conducted Operation Chrome Dome. As a result, the Arctic region was continuously patrolled by aircraft carrying nuclear bombs, ready to respond with a nuclear air raid to a suspected Soviet attack on the United States.
In 1968, the pilot of one of the B-52 bombers, aware of the discomfort awaiting him during long hours of patrol, decided to smuggle a few foam cushions on board. He couldn’t have foreseen the serious consequences of this minor deviation from the rules.
Due to a problem with the heating system, the cushions caught fire. The plane, engulfed in flames, began to fall, and the terrified crew directed the aircraft towards the nearest airport – the American Thule base in Greenland.
The bomber did not manage to land. It crashed near the airport, and the conventional explosives – used in nuclear bombs to initiate explosions – scattered the radioactive contents.
The radioactive contamination of Greenland caused an international scandal and appeals to remove the Americans from the island. To remedy the situation, the Pentagon conducted an operation during the polar night to cut out and evacuate the contaminated ice from Greenland, which was then transported to the United States.
This was just one of the episodes related to the American presence on Danish territory. Since 1940, American troops have continuously been stationed in Greenland, and the Pentagon treats the Arctic as an area of critical importance for the security of the United States. Why is Greenland so important to America?
Critical significance of Greenland
The polar region provides the shortest route between most of Russia's territory and the United States. During the Cold War, waves of Soviet bombers were expected to fly over the Arctic, planning to devastate American cities with atomic bombs, and it was precisely to counter them that NORAD was established – the command responsible for the air defence of the northern part of the American continent.
The routes of intercontinental ballistic missiles also pass over the Arctic, which, in the event of a third world war, the superpowers would use to exchange nuclear strikes.
Near Greenland, there is a route for Russian submarines, which in the event of war, could cut Europe off from American economic and military aid through attacks on shipping in the Atlantic.
When considering the planned, growing role of the Northern Sea Route in global trade, as well as the rich resources of Arctic materials and potential disputes over their division, the military presence of the USA in the far north becomes more understandable.
The Thule base (now Pituffik), built at an enormous cost, is one of the most important American military installations located outside the USA. Greenland is a crucial link in the chain of American security.
Atomic base under the ice
In the past, the Pentagon attempted to hide part of the installations being built on the island under the ice.
In the 1960s, under Operation Iceworm, conducted under the guise of the scientific project Camp Century, the Americans drilled miles of tunnels in the Greenland ice sheet, building an underground city powered – also hidden under the ice – by a nuclear power plant.
The goal of these activities was to place hidden silos with Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles in Greenland. Ultimately, the operation was a failure due to the destruction of the sub-glacial infrastructure by ice movements. Besides the tunnels, it left behind almost 38,000 litres of radioactive waste trapped 30 metres under the surface of the glacier.
Base and port in the far north
The key Greenland base - Pituffik Space Base (originally known as Thule) - has been operational continuously since the early 1950s. Built in secrecy by over 12,000 workers transported to the far north, the presence of American troops in the Arctic quickly ceased to be a secret. Shortly after its construction, the base was accidentally discovered by a French anthropologist returning with a friendly Inuit from the North Pole.
However, Pituffik is more than just a large airport with a 3-kilometre runway, handling over 3,000 take-offs annually and capable of servicing the largest aircraft of the American air force. Aircraft designed to patrol the northern reaches of Russia take off from there, among others.
The base also houses the world’s northernmost deep-water port, as well as infrastructure related to airspace surveillance, including the Ballistic Missile Early Warning Site, an installation responsible for detecting intercontinental ballistic missiles heading towards the USA.
Since 2020, Pituffik Space Base has been overseen by the U.S. Space Force, and the American contingent in Greenland consists of about 600 people.
