Russian President Vladimir Putin is making an astonishing bid to grab a vast chunk of the Arctic - so he can tap its vast potential oil, gas and mineral wealth.
His scientists claim an underwater ridge near the North Pole is really part of Russia's continental shelf.
One newspaper printed a map of the "new addition", a triangle five times the size of Britain with twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia.

READ MORE - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-diamonds.html




24/ 06/ 2008

MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia must be ready to fight wars in the Arctic to protect its national interests in a region that contains large and untapped deposits of natural resources, a high-ranking military official said in an interview published Tuesday.

"After several countries contested Russia's rights for the resource-rich continental shelf in the Arctic, we have immediately started the revision of our combat training programs for military units that may be deployed in the Arctic in case of a potential conflict," Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the Defense Ministry's combat training directorate, told the Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper.

Under the Law of the Sea, coastal states can declare an Exclusive Economic Zone stretching 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the shore, but this area can be extended if it is a part of the country's continental shelf or shallower waters. Some Arctic shelves extend for hundreds of miles, creating the possibility of overlapping territorial claims.

Last August, as part of a scientific expedition, two Russian mini-subs made a symbolic eight-hour dive beneath the North Pole to bolster the country's claim that the Arctic's Lomonosov Ridge lies in the country's economic zone. A titanium Russian flag was also planted on the seabed. Russia first claimed the territory in 2001, but the UN demanded more evidence.
The expedition irritated a number of Western countries, particularly the U.S. and Canada.
The general said wars "are won or lost long before they start" and combat training was crucial for the success of any future military operations.

"The Americans, for example, recently conducted the Northern Edge 12-day large-scale exercise in Alaska, involving about 5,000 personnel, 120 aircraft and several warships," Shamanov said, adding that Russia could not ignore such a show of military force near vital Arctic regions.
He said the Defense Ministry would drastically change its approach to the combat training of highly-professional military units in the Leningrad, Siberian and Far Eastern military districts, which could participate in potential conflicts in the Arctic.
He also said two expert groups in his directorate were closely studying combat training models based on computer-assisted combat simulations that have been adopted by some foreign militaries.

"We may propose to the defense minister setting up a company-level fully computerized training center at one of the former testing sites," the general said.
Russia's General Staff is planning to determine the new composition and size of the Armed Forces by the beginning of July.

Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry has already announced plans to expand the presence of the Russian Navy in the world's oceans, including the Arctic, and extend the operational range of submarines deployed in the northern latitudes.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080624/111915879.html

There is no white eagles. And there wont be any on the north pole

__________________
Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.

Well somebodies going to be drilling there in the future. It's really more of a question of who.

And military capability in the region may be very relevant. At the least we can play the sort of games they wanted to do in Kosovo where we use our vehicles and tanks to get in each others way.

Russia looks pretty serious about this.

And Senator Lugar agrees with you:




WASHINGTON, May 16 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. Senator Richard G. Lugar said Russia is aspiring to take control over potential energy reserves in the Arctic Ocean at the expense of U.S. interests.

The senator, known for his anti-Russian statements, urged the U.S. authorities to join the struggle for the polar oil and gas resources by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The issue has acquired importance in view of dwindling global energy resources. Experts forecast that oil reserves on land would soon be exhausted and the only available fields will be in Persian Gulf and on deep sea shelves.

Lugar said Russia had claimed the right to develop the reserves, which could become more accessible due to ice melting in climate change. The Russian government is expected to meet this week to discuss hydrocarbon production on the sea.

The U.S. parliamentarian's warnings followed a statement by President George W. Bush Tuesday, which called on the Senate to ratify the convention.

Lugar said the convention had been adopted in Cold War times to protect national interests against the Soviet Union and aggressively developing countries. If ratified, the document will grant Washington control over the vast energy and fish wealth lying 200 miles off the American coast, he said.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070516/65556146.html

Barely anything more than the usual tyrannical show of fighting equipment for sale to anyone at a slightly higher price than china with out after market service. Its not like they have not done this before.

But all the best for the Little Water people. Im sure they have nothing for this

__________________
Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.

2007-08-08 17:38:53
BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States and Canada have ridiculed the Russian submarine expedition that planted a Russian flag on the seabed under the North Pole, but the famous polar scientist who led the effort responded with blunt words after returning Tuesday.

"I don't give a dam.n what all these foreign politicians there are saying about this," Artur Chilingarov told a throng of well-wishers. "If someone doesn't like this, let them go down themselves ... and then try to put something there. Russia must win. Russia has what it takes to win. The Arctic has always been Russian."

Thursday's dive by two small submarines was partly a scientific expedition. But it could prompt a fierce legal battle for control of the seabed among nations that border the Arctic, including Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark, through its territory Greenland.

READ MORE - http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_6495673.htm



Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma,"Hero of Russia," explorer, oceanographer and engineer Artur Chilingarov posing for picture after his historic mission to the bottom of the North Pole in the Arctic ocean.



Russian explorers have planted their country's flag on the seabed 4,200m (14,000ft) below the North Pole to further Moscow's claims to the Arctic.
The rust-proof titanium metal flag was brought by explorers travelling in two mini-submarines, in what is believed to be the first expedition of its kind.
READ MORE - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6927395.stm#map

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...anic'.html
They even copied the titanic footage to make it look solid soviet, good luck with their Apollo 11 hehehe

__________________
Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.

Adriano, what is your point? Who they?
The Titanic footage was first used by Reuters to claim that that was the actual footage of the Russia's North Pole expedition.

Here's how the they-even-copied-the-titanic-footage-to-make-it-look-solid started (by Reuters):

Quote:

It seems that Reuters can’t get anything right. Remember that story we featured two days ago about Russia sending an expedition to the North Pole to plant their flag on the northernmost sea bed?
Well, Reuters apparently took the liberty of providing underwater shots of those ambitious sailors in their submersibles. Just one problem, the photos which were republished around the world were actually taken from the 1997 film Titanic. It took a 13-year-old Finnish schoolboy to figure it out.

Now if Reuters can’t even be accurate reporting something this inane, how are we supposed to trust their sources when they’re reporting on real news? One word, Lebanon.
News agency Reuters has been forced to admit that footage it released last week purportedly showing Russian submersibles on the seabed of the North Pole actually came from the movie Titanic.

The images were reproduced around the world - including by the Guardian and Guardian Unlimited - alongside the story of Russia planting its flag below the North Pole on Thursday last week.
But it has now emerged that the footage actually showed two Finnish-made Mir submersibles that were employed on location filming at the scene of the wreck of the RMS Titanic ship in the north Atlantic some 10 years ago.
The mistake was only revealed after a 13-year-old Finnish schoolboy contacted a local newspaper to tell them the images looked identical to those used in the movie.

Reuters has admitted that it took the images from Russian state television channel RTR and wrongly captioned them as file footage originating from the Arctic.

RTR had also used the footage to illustrate stories about the North Pole expedition, but it is thought as library footage, and it never claimed it was actually of the flag-planting.
The pictures were first broadcast by RTR when the Russians were still several hours away from the North Pole.

Reuters distributed a package of clips that included the scenes from Titanic, alongside computer animations and footage of ships on the surface at the North Pole.

READ MORE - http://www.simplydumb.com/2007/08/10...the-north-pole

And this is the picture which was used by Reuters:




Adriano, please, get your story straight BEFORE posting.

OK?

you are right mr north pole. i guess you live there and this effects you somewhat. anyway back too the story, military bases in freezing conditions are highly volnorable to attrition, just ask the indians with their kashmir border

if russia wants to truly gain a core in the north than they have to stretch and extend their military. when they will reach a certain extra battalions, their geopolitical neighbours will doubts the motives russia, great footballers by the way
anyway in my opinion it will not be russias final word on the north, but a collective meaning 3 countries

__________________
Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.