Canada and the United States should use lighter-than-air (LTA) platforms to improve their defensive posture in the Arctic, according to a report conducted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. “Airships may offer an effective solution to countering maritime threats posed by strategic competitors in the Arctic,” said US Navy Lt.-Comm. Cam Kovarek in a press release. “Their inherent capabilities coupled with technological advances of the last half century make airships a viable solution.”Kovarek said the threat to Arctic sovereignty is urgent, with Russian and Chinese naval vessels carrying out incursions into the US exclusive economic zone near Alaska. While it is legal for Russia and China to posture, he said it signals a heightened risk. He said modern airships can disrupt the air transport and cargo industries, with designs such as the LMH-3 capable of hauling up to 500 tons at a much lower cost than its fixed-wing counterparts. He added the emergence of an organized effort in Canada, advocating for the use of airships to support mining, is noteworthy.Many potential applications exist for airship employment by the US Coast Guard and other relevant organizations, including NORAD to support its maritime surveillance missions, by NATO to do air policing missions, and to run assured logistics with current and future military installations.Disaster response organizations could benefit, improving emergency preparedness for vulnerable populations in the Arctic and addressing food insecurity, medical access, insufficient housing and other material shortages related to human security.Kovarek concluded by saying LTA platforms have “immediate application toward persistent surveillance and stand to drastically increase maritime domain awareness around Alaskan (and Canadian) littoral waters.”“Should the US military decide to operationalize airships, they may yet outmaneuver their strategic competitors with one slow, steady and lighter-than-air solution,” he said. Arctic security is now more important than ever, according to a July briefing note from the Privy Council.READ MORE: Canadian military’s expanding Arctic operationsThe Privy Council revealed 300 soldiers, sailors and aircrew are assigned to the Arctic. “Geopolitical competition, rapid technological changes and the changing Arctic landscape make defending this strategically important region, its people and our interests more important than ever,” said the Privy Council.
