Russia Builds Massive Arctic Military Base

[Purveyor]

Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

AFP
2 hours ago

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's defence ministry said Tuesday it has built a giant military base in the far northern Arctic where 150 soldiers can live autonomously for up to 18 months.

The ministry said the building erected on the large island of Alexandra Land, which is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, is 97 percent complete.

Named the "Arctic Trefoil", or three-lobed leaf, the sprawling three-pointed structure is coloured red white and blue like the Russian flag.

--CLIP
Russia is building up its Arctic military infrastructure as part of a recently updated Naval Doctrine, which proclaims the region as a top priority due to its mineral riches and strategic importance.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-builds-massive-arctic-military-205936509.html

[Wilms]

1. Cold War n/t

[newfie11]

2. Yep. Nt

[Fred Sanders]

3. It is massive...gigantic...huge....150 men! And on their own land! This is outrageous!?

http://www.nationalsecurity.news/2015-09-22-colder-war-u-s-builds-up-arctic-presence-to-ward-off-encroaching-chinese-russian-forces.html

[padfun]

4. Well, that can be huge.

You don't need too many men there to maintain several nukes. The size doesn't depend on how many people, but how much tech.

Some Supercomputers, new tech sensory equipment, and some weaponry, and you can have a very powerful base with that many people.

[Fred Sanders]

5. When and if there is evidence of nukes being installed that would be of concern....if, I guess.

In the meantime, 150 frozen men at a frozen base in Siberia is not keeping me up at night.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. It's a shame they've militarised Franz Josef Land, though

As the name indicates, it wasn't discovered by Russia (or the Soviet Union), but by Austrians in the 19th century. The Soviet Union claimed it, on the basis that it's due north of their mainland, in the 1920s; Norway objected, but wasn't going to fight about it. Norway controls a similar archipelago, Svalbard, due north of their mainland, but it's demilitarized (and they allow a Russian company to mine coal there). It'd be nice if these remote Arctic islands (it's about 300 miles from Novaya Zemlya) could be demilitarized.

[gordianot]

6. That base is not cheap. In the age of drones and cruise missles it is not survivable.

Cold war mentality is so boring.

[AngryAmish]

8. E