NATO countries take place to develop Arctic drones before Russia

The drones transform war, and Western soldiers are now in an intensive race to develop models capable of operating in one of the hardest environments of the earth: the Arctic.

NATO countries quickly discover the potential, as well as the limits, of drones in the Arctic, where geopolitical competition intensifies.

Russia and China have increased their military presence in the region, and the Pentagon said that last year, it would be based more on unmanned technologies to monitor regional threats.

Military analysts told Business Insider that drones could be crucial in any military confrontation in the region.

However, there are major obstacles to the deployment of large -scale technology in an area where winter temperatures can drop to -40 degrees.

A new race for Arctic Domination

In Ukraine, drones, both air and naval, have been used strongly for surveillance and are equipped with explosives to hit targets.

The challenge of using drones in the Arctic comes down to “the hard environment and its lack of connectivity” in the region, “said Bi Nicolas Jouan, defense and security analyst at Rand Europe.

Most unabled air vehicles, or UAV, are powered by batteries, which are seriously affected by the cold, he said.

Another problem is communication, most drones led by controllers using GPS signals. Satellites, however, can only provide “reduced and unreliable” GPS coverage in the Arctic, added Jouan.

At the end of April, the information operating group of the 30 Commando of the United Kingdom said that it had tested the limits of drone technology in extremely cold weather in Norway, as well as to test new models.

Above the same time, Colonel Joshua Glonek, the commander of the 3rd American brigade combat team of the 10th mountain division, told journalists that during the recent cold time training in Germany, drone operations were seriously affected.

“What we found was the battery life, was considerably degraded in the cold and affected the flight time and the ability to use some of our drones,” he said.

Zak Kallenborn, a Warfare drone analyst, told Bi that commercial drones that have become omnipresent in the war in Ukraine are fighting to manage the cold.

“Some small drones have been developed to manage conditions in cold weather, but I don’t know if they can manage as cold as the Arctic,” he said.

The advantage of Russia

Gregory Falco, assistant professor at the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University, told Bi that the systems used by drones to collect data, such as cameras and LIDAR – which uses lasers to record the distance and the territory of trace – can also be affected by unfavorable weather conditions.

The “biggest challenge to develop drones for the Arctic War is the detection of a strongly refused environment,” he said.

Complicating the situation, at least for Western countries, is the fact that Russia seems to have a technological advantage of drones in the region.

The Russian army has deployed UAV models, including Orlan-10 and Inokhodets, in the Arctic, and develops a specialized combat drone, S-70 Okhotnik.

The S-70 is a drone the size of an aircraft that can be deployed for attack or surveillance missions. It would have been tested in arctic conditions, although its technology was a closely kept secret; Russia killed one in 2024 to prevent it from falling into Ukrainian hands.

Work together

The fears are that Russia can use its Arctic drone force to extend its regional power.

James Patton Rogers, a drone expert at Cornell University, told Reuters in January that Russia would probably be able to monitor the Northern Sea road, connecting Europe and Asia, with drones.

“We are heading towards a point where Russia will not only have unarmed surveillance drone systems along the North Sea road, but potentially armed systems that are constantly patrolling,” he said.

In the race to stimulate their presence in the Arctic and integrate new drone technologies, some Western countries cooperate closely.

In May 2024, Denmark and Norway announced that they would launch joint drone recognition operations in the region, the MQ-4C triton among the planned models.

One report from last year for the Center for Strategic and International Studies revealed that the long-range MQ-4C Triton of Northrop Grumman was among the few drones made to the west capable of operating effectively in arctic conditions.

But they are designed for high altitude surveillance and would be attractive targets for Russia, he said.

Norway should also open a drone surveillance base in Andøya, the center of its soldiers in the region, the Barents observed.

And some Scandinavian countries seek to develop their own drones capable of resisting Arctic conditions.

“Russia has been working on drones classified in the Arctic for longer than the United States, but Sweden and Finland are also working on it,” said Falco.

Quantity, not just the quality

In its 2024 report, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that, with regard to the Arctic, drone numbers will have as much as in Ukraine, and that Western countries should prioritize the scale, and not only quality.

“Rather than opting for fewer numbers of expensive drones, which do not capture the technological military advantages of drone capacity, the Arctic should rather choose to adopt many less expensive variations,” he suggested.

But, according to Falco, the United States will have to work in close collaboration with its allies in the Arctic region if he wants to compete with Russia.

“We have to count on these partners to be parity in the Arctic field,” he said.