Canada plans to build a radar system in the Arctic to track incoming missiles and share data with the United States.
The Polar Over the Horizon Radar (P-OTHR) will be “optimized to detect missiles,” but will also track additional aerospace and maritime objects, the Ottawa Citizen newspaper reported. The new system will provide missile tracking and other data to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint organization between Canada and the U.S. tasked with aerospace warning and control and maritime warning for North America. Aerospace warning includes the detection, validation and warning of an attack against North America — whether by aircraft, missiles or space vehicles — through mutual support arrangements with other commands.
The Canadian government announced the system in 2022 as part of a NORAD modernization plan for the next two decades that includes a new sensor network with classified capabilities, modernized command and control and enhanced satellite communications. P-OTHR is one of two over the horizon radar systems listed in Canada’s NORAD modernization project timeline and will be situated inside the polar cap. The other system, Arctic OTHR, will be situated outside the auroral oval, a belt around the magnetic pole that shifts in location depending on space weather. Both systems are scheduled to be operational by 2033, according to the project timeline.
Canada has said it is prioritizing OTHR capabilities in response to “significant global shifts,” to improve domain awareness in the Arctic. NORAD has expressed concern over the potential for Russia to launch cruise missiles over the region. Competition in the Arctic has grown exponentially in recent decades, due in part to the thawing of once ice-choked sea lanes brought on by a warming climate, further opening avenues of approach. Nations that operate in the Arctic are addressing these new security challenges.
“We are deepening our commitment to the extraordinary defense partnership that Canada and the United States share. It’s a relationship unlike any other in the world,” Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair said during a May 2024 visit to Washington, D.C. “This means building a new Arctic over the horizon radar capability that will vastly improve our ability to detect threats from the North.”
In July 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense released a new Arctic strategy to strengthen the region’s security, working with Allies and Partners.
“The Arctic region of the United States is critical to the defense of our homeland, the protection of U.S. national sovereignty and the preservation of our defense treaty commitments,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said during a briefing at the Pentagon in July 2024. “Our Arctic strategy will guide the department’s efforts to ensure that the Arctic remains a secure and stable region.”
NATO is also enhancing Arctic security. The Alliance announced in October 2024 it will explore the development of a military-grade multinational Arctic satellite communications capability, Northlink, using existing commercial satellites.
“This will explore the development of a secure, resilient and reliable multinational Arctic satellite communications capability,” Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO Military Committee, told Allies gathered at the 2024 Arctic Circle Assembly.
“The Arctic is going to be a factor, not only today, but more so probably 10 to 15 years from now,” Gen. Charles C.Q. Brown, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force, told Sailors assigned to Patrol Squadron 40, a P-8A Poseidon multimission aircraft squadron on detachment at Keflavik Air Base. Brown visited the squadron as part of a two-day trip to Iceland to meet with his counterparts from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as part of this year’s Arctic Chiefs of Defense meeting.
He noted the strategic implications environmental changes will have in managing great power competition throughout the globe and the importance the region holds for the U.S. and its NATO Allies.
“We are seeing more and more activity where Russia and [China] are working together, and the Arctic is the most recent area we’re seeing,” Brown said. “It’s something we all need to be paying attention to.”