The two submarines started the exercise ICEX-2011 on March 15, the U.S. Navy’s web site reads.
- It is critical that we continue to operate and train today’s submarines in the challenging Arctic environment, said Captain Rhett Jaehn, ice camp officer-in-tactical-command. -ICEX-2011 is the latest in a series of Arctic exercises, which are key to ensuring our submarines are trained and ready to support U.S. interests in this region, he added.
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The overall exercise has been planned and will be coordinated by the Navy’s Arctic Submarine Laboratory in San Diego and a temporary tracking range will be built into the ice flow north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
The camp consists of a small village, constructed and operated especially for ICEX, by the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory, and members of the U.S., Canadian, and British navies.
As BarentsObserver reported, the U.S. Navy and civilian scientists have established a program called SCICEX - short for Science Ice Exercise, which enables scientists to use Navy submarines to collect data from Arctic regions that are normally beyond scientists’ reach.
For the latest information on ICEX and life at the ice camp, visit the official blog of the United States Navy, at http://navylive.dodlive.mil/
