US, NATO hone Arctic skills across High Northern latitudes

Cutter Healy , shown here operating in the Gulf of Alaska, conducted maritime boundary line patrols in the Arctic in the latter half of 2025. (Janes/Michael Fabey)

Jointly and separately, US and NATO forces conducted operations and exercises throughout the Arctic in recent weeks to counter increasing competition in the higher latitudes, officials from the forces have acknowledged.

In North America, the US Coast Guard (USCG) recently acknowledged participating in exercises with allied forces as well as surveillance operations of Chinese maritime operations in and near Alaskan waters.

Also in North America, Danish-operated Joint Arctic Command recently finished an exercise with NATO forces around Greenland.

Across the Atlantic, the US Navy (USN) recently confirmed its participation in NATO operations off the coast of Norway and elsewhere in the regional High North.

As noted in an 8 September US Sixth Fleet release, “The High North is a critical region for the US and NATO Alliance to stand together in support of a safe, stable, and secure Euro-Atlantic region by enhancing military capabilities, readiness, and interoperability.”

US forces are also committed to defending the Northern Flank in the western North American Arctic to protect “US sovereignty, enforcing border control, and ensuring national security in the strategically vital Bering Sea, Arctic Ocean, and along the US-Russia Maritime Boundary Line”, the USCG noted in its 22 October release acknowledging the home port return of National Security Cutter Waesche (WMSL 751) following the ship's 105-day Arctic deployment.

Waesche was one of several USCG assets deployed to the Arctic to shadow the movements of five China-affiliated research vessels operated in the Arctic region during the latter half of 2025, the USCG said in its release.

In August Waesche