"Across air, land, and sea, NATO's presence and overall activity in the region have more than doubled over the last two to three years, said Vice Adm. Rune Andersen, chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters. Andersen said that the surge is 'partially a response to increased Russian out-of-area deployments with the submarines' and 'a need to keep track of that.'"
"Russia maintains one of the world's largest submarine fleets, with an estimated 64 active boats. The Northern Fleet, based in the Murmansk region on the Barents Sea, operates dozens. To get from Murmansk to the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, Russian submarines often sail west through the Arctic before turning south and going through the North Sea or the waters in between Greenland, Iceland, and the UK."
"If the Russian submarines make it out of the relatively 'shallow water and out into the deep Atlantic sea, it becomes more difficult once they're out in the really big ocean to track them,' said Col. Martin O'Donnell, the spokesperson for Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, or SHAPE, which commands all NATO operations."
NATO has significantly expanded its military footprint across the Arctic and North Atlantic regions, with activity more than doubling in the past two to three years. This expansion is largely driven by Russia's increased submarine deployments from its Northern Fleet based in Murmansk. Russia operates approximately 64 active submarines, with dozens stationed in the Barents Sea. Russian submarines transit westward through the Arctic before heading south through strategic chokepoints like the GIUK gap between Greenland, Iceland, and the UK to reach the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Baltic seas. NATO allies prioritize monitoring Russian naval activity in these waters before submarines reach the open Atlantic, where tracking becomes significantly more challenging.
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