PARIS -- In a hypothetical atomic warfare involving Russia, China and the United States, the land of Greenland would beryllium successful the mediate of Armageddon.
The strategical value of the Arctic territory — nether the formation paths that nuclear-armed missiles from China and Russia could instrumentality connected their mode to incinerating targets successful the United States, and vice versa — is 1 of the reasons U.S. President Donald Trump has cited successful his disruptive run to wrest power of Greenland from Denmark, alarming Greenlanders and longtime allies successful Europe alike.
Trump has argued that U.S. ownership of Greenland is captious for his “Golden Dome” — a multibillion dollar rocket defence strategy that helium says volition beryllium operational earlier his word ends successful 2029.
“Because of The Golden Dome, and Modern Day Weapons Systems, some Offensive and Defensive, the request to ACQUIRE is particularly important," Trump said successful a Truth Social station connected Saturday.
That ushered successful different roller-coaster week involving the semiautonomous Danish territory, wherever Trump again pushed for U.S. ownership earlier seemingly backing off, announcing Wednesday the “framework of a aboriginal deal” connected Arctic information that's improbable to beryllium the last word.
Here’s a person look astatine Greenland's presumption astatine a crossroads for atomic defense.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, oregon ICBMs, that atomic adversaries would occurrence astatine each different — if it ever came to that — thin to instrumentality the shortest nonstop route, connected a ballistic trajectory into abstraction and down again, from their silos oregon launchers to targets. The shortest formation paths from China oregon Russia to the United States — and the different mode — would instrumentality galore of them implicit the Arctic region.
Russian Topol-M missiles fired, for example, from the Tatishchevo silo analyzable southeast of Moscow would alert precocious implicit Greenland, if targeted astatine the U.S. ICBM unit of 400 Minuteman III missiles, housed astatine the Minot Air Force Base successful North Dakota, the Malmstrom Air Force Base successful Montana and the Warren Air Force Base successful Wyoming.
Chinese Dong Feng-31 missiles, if fired from caller silo fields that the U.S. Defense Department says person been built successful China, besides could overfly Greenland should they beryllium targeted astatine the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.
“If determination is simply a war, overmuch of the enactment volition instrumentality spot connected that portion of ice. Think of it: those missiles would beryllium flying close implicit the center,” Trump said Wednesday astatine the World Economic Forum successful Davos, Switzerland.
An array of farseeing aboriginal informing radars enactment arsenic the Pentagon's eyes against immoderate rocket attack. The northernmost of them is successful Greenland, astatine the Pituffik Space Base. Pronounced “bee-doo-FEEK,” it utilized to beryllium called Thule Air Base, but was renamed successful 2023 utilizing the distant location's Greenlandic name, recognizing the Indigenous assemblage that was forcibly displaced by the U.S. outpost's operation successful 1951.
Its determination supra the Arctic Circle, and astir halfway betwixt Washington and Moscow, enables it to adjacent with its radar implicit the Arctic region, into Russia and astatine imaginable formation paths of U.S.-targeted Chinese missiles.
“That gives the United States much clip to deliberation astir what to do,” said Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based expert who specializes successful Russia’s atomic arsenal. “Greenland is simply a bully determination for that.”
The two-sided, solid-state AN/FPS-132 radar is designed to rapidly observe and way ballistic rocket launches, including from submarines, to assistance pass the U.S. commandant successful chief's effect and supply information for interceptors to effort and destruct warheads.
The radar beams retired for astir 5,550 kilometers (3,450 miles) successful a 240-degree arc and, adjacent astatine its furthest range, tin observe objects nary larger than a tiny car, the U.S. Air Force says.
Pitching the “Golden Dome” successful Davos, Trump said that the U.S. needs ownership of Greenland to support it.
“You can’t support it connected a lease,” helium said.
But defence specialists conflict to comprehend that logic fixed that the U.S. has operated astatine Pituffik for decades without owning Greenland.
French atomic defence specializer Etienne Marcuz points retired that Trump has ne'er spoken of besides needing to instrumentality power of the United Kingdom — adjacent though it, similar Greenland, besides plays an important relation successful U.S. rocket defense.
An aboriginal informing radar operated by the U.K.'s Royal Air Force astatine Fylingdales, successful bluish England, serves some the U.K. and U.S governments, scanning for missiles from Russia and elsewhere and northward to the polar region. The unit's motto is “Vigilamus" — Latin for “We are watching.”
Trump's envisioned multilayered “Golden Dome” could see space-based sensors to observe missiles. They could trim the U.S. request for its Greenland-based radar station, said Marcuz, a erstwhile atomic defence idiosyncratic for France’s Defense Ministry, present with the Foundation for Strategic Research deliberation vessel successful Paris.
“Trump’s statement that Greenland is captious for the Golden Dome — and truthful that it has to beryllium invaded, well, acquired — is mendacious for respective reasons," Marcuz said.
“One of them is that determination is, for example, a radar successful the United Kingdom, and to my cognition determination is nary question of invading the U.K. And, supra all, determination are caller sensors that are already being tested, successful the process of being deployed, which volition successful information trim Greenland’s importance.”
Because of its location, Greenland could beryllium a utile spot to presumption “Golden Dome” interceptors to effort to destruct warheads earlier they scope the continental U.S.
The “highly analyzable strategy tin lone enactment astatine its maximum imaginable and ratio ... if this Land is included successful it," Trump wrote successful his station past weekend.
But the U.S. already has entree to Greenland nether a 1951 defence agreement. Before Trump ratcheted up the vigor connected the territory and Denmark, its owner, their governments apt would person readily accepted immoderate American subject petition for an expanded footprint there, experts say. It utilized to person aggregate bases and installations, but aboriginal abandoned them, leaving conscionable Pituffik.
“Denmark was the astir compliant state of the United States,” Marcuz said. “Now, it’s precise different. I don’t cognize whether authorization would beryllium granted, but successful immoderate case, before, the reply was ‘Yes.’”
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