Russia–China Military Activity Near Alaska

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, says Russian and Chinese military aircraft and ships have entered the U.S. Arctic air defense identification zone near Alaska dozens of times in recent months, including joint bomber patrols and naval or 'research' vessels he characterizes as spying on U.S. submarine routes and undersea cables. In an interview, Sullivan ties those incursions to an accelerated push in Congress to reopen the Navy base at Adak Island, build a deepwater port in Nome capable of hosting most Navy and Coast Guard assets, and homeport additional icebreakers in Juneau under roughly $25 billion in new Coast Guard funding, including $4.5 billion for Arctic infrastructure. He warns that Russia now operates about 54 icebreakers while the U.S. has only two, one out of service, and calls joint Russian–Chinese task forces inside the U.S. ADIZ 'unprecedented.' With current U.S. fighters sometimes flying 1,000 miles from Eielson AFB near Fairbanks to intercept intruders, Sullivan argues that the new port, revived Adak fuel depot and other facilities are critical to cut response times and harden America’s northern flank as Trump’s administration pursues an expanded Arctic posture and a controversial push for control of Greenland. The piece adds to a growing narrative, echoed in other coverage and expert commentary, that China’s presence in the High North is no longer theoretical and that the U.S. is years behind in icebreaking and port infrastructure even as rivals press closer to Alaska.