Tundra Merlin Arctic drills in Alaska; report details Canadian troops' cold-weather problems

Right · 1Fox News reports that US and Canadian forces are taking part in Tundra Merlin, which it describes as an enduring US military campaign to show that American and allied forces can quickly assemble combat power across Alaska's distances and Arctic conditions. 1 Right · 1In one demonstration, a US Army HIMARS rocket system and an AN/TPQ-53 radar were flown into western Alaska aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17 and linked with F-35s, F-16s and a KC-135 tanker; according to US Northern Command, F-35s and HIMARS engaged a simulated ground target about 135 miles away while F-16s intercepted F-35s acting as incoming aerial threats. 1 Right · 1From 18 to 22 September, US and Canadian forces ran a joint maritime strike scenario about 100 nautical miles north of Dutch Harbor, involving the US Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy vessels, Canadian patrol aircraft, and US Air Force F-35s and E-3 aircraft. 1

Right · 1Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander of Alaskan Command, told Fox News Digital that melting sea ice has made the Arctic more accessible and that China and Russia are advancing their military capabilities with an interest in showing they can use them there; he said Alaska is "postured very well" for anticipated near-term threats but would request more forces if escalation were indicated. 1 Right · 1Fox cites the Pentagon's 2024 Arctic Strategy, which warned that growing Russia-China cooperation could "alter the Arctic’s stability and threat picture", and a July 2024 NORAD intercept of two Russian Tu-95 and two Chinese H-6 bombers in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, which NORAD said was not considered a threat. 1 Left · 1CBC News, in a separate report, says internal Department of National Defence documents it obtained suggest Canadian troops were ill-prepared and occasionally ill-equipped during Exercise Global Response in February at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center north of Fairbanks; this is a different exercise from the Tundra Merlin activities Fox describes. 2

Left · 1More than 400 members of the 3rd Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment were folded into a larger US Army brigade; evaluations cited problems with off-the-shelf civilian gear such as stoves and tents, a "lack of emphasis on basic winter soldiering skills" in some units, as many as 30 troops with frostbite, drone batteries drained to about 10 minutes of flight time, and communications gaps because of the lack of satellites so far north. 2 Left · 1One evaluation said medics misunderstood their role and, on three occasions, were seen using personal phones for long calls that gave away positions; they received a four-hour seminar rather than a five-day US-led Arctic medicine course. 2 Left · 1A separate US assessment by the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies found US units had similar difficulties, including a lack of snow-clearing equipment and fuel shortages. 2

Left · 1Lt.-Col. Aaron Corey, commander of 3RCR, disagreed with the criticism, saying his troops trained for winter conditions for a year and every soldier was cold-weather operator qualified; the reports also noted the battalion met its training objectives. 2 Left · 1Experts quoted by CBC, including retired colonel Pierre Leblanc and University of Calgary's Rob Huebert, said Canada must relearn Arctic skills and rely less on technology, and that the Carney government's winter exercises are smaller in scale than those of the 1950s and 60s. 2