The Navy sends a carrier back to Russia's arctic haunts

Navy carrier aviation is back in the Arctic Circle for the first time in nearly 30 years, the latest sign that the Pentagon is looking to flex its muscles during an era of great power competition.

The Harry S. Truman entered the Norwegian Sea on Friday, the first flattop to be so since September 1991, according to a US 6th Fleet press release.

The carrier and select escorts from their strike group are preparing to participate in a massive NATO exercise straddling late October and early November, but they arrived Friday in fast-thawing northern waters in the wake of the Navy's top officer .

The Truman's Path on Friday, April 24th, 2011 at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm at 9:00 pm

It's also a key road for Russian submarines slipping into the North Atlantic.

On Aug. 24, the Navy reestablished the 2nd Fleet, a stalwart force during the Cold War, to patrol the Atlantic Ocean, including northern climes.

The Truman's Northern Journey echoes Cold War Patrols, said Dr. Daniel Goure, a senior defense official and senior vice president of the Lexington Institute think tank.

Sending the Truman and her escorts is more than a show of force, Goure said. It's about reacquainting a new generation of officers and sailors with what could become a maritime battlefield.

"I'd wager that the carrier has never participated in this area," he said.

Goure predicted these deployments likely to become the norm.

"It's not just about training for this kind of warfare, but we've had enough of that," he said. "So you are going to see more in the Mediterranean, training in the Arctic and training in the Western Pacific."

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson warned that this is a North Atlantic, and that Russia's subsurface waters.

"Even five years ago, we would not have seen anything like this," he told Voice of America.

The Truman's arrival in the Arctic this week marks the first carrier to operate in the area since the now-retired America in September 1991.

"Despite the arduous weather and sea conditions, these men and women are demonstrating this ship to a full spectrum of capabilities to bear anywhere in the world," Capt. Nick Dienna, the Truman 's commanding officer, said in a Navy release.

The Truman strike group, airspace and underwater exercises in the rough seas, freezing temperatures and relentless winds before joining 30 NATO allies for the massive Trident Juncture maneuvers.

The exercise will take place in Norway and the NATO ally's shore, plus the Baltic Sea. It's slated to involve 14,000 American troops alongside 36,000 staff from friendly nations. More than 50 aircraft, 65 ships and 10,000 vehicles will also take part in the maneuvers, planners say.

In his news release, Carrier Strike Group 8's commanding officer – Rear Adm. Gene Black – called the exercise "a fantastic opportunity to learn from our Allies on their home turf."