Arlington, VA | September 4, 2025 — The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce a new entry in its Policy Paper series, Homeland Sanctuary Lost: Urgent Actions to Secure the Arctic Flank by Brig Gen Houston Cantwell, USAF (Ret.), Senior Resident Fellow for Airpower Studies, at the Mitchell Institute.

Russia and China have spent the past three decades developing and fielding advanced weapons capable of striking the U.S. homeland. Today, their nuclear and non-nuclear missile technologies can hold vital centers of gravity at risk from thousands of miles away. Nowhere is the country’s exposure to attack more acute than from its Arctic approaches—the most direct corridor through which both Russia and China could strike the United States.

America has dealt with similar threats before. The Cold War saw the United States install and operate extensive arrays of early warning systems to ensure advanced detection of Soviet bomber aircraft across the Arctic region. However, those systems no longer operate or have aged out. Moreover, Cold War threats, while significant, were simpler and more predictable. Modern systems are far more diverse, dynamic, and more difficult to detect. U.S. Arctic domain awareness (ADA) capabilities and capacity are woefully insufficient to meet today’s threats.

A modern, effective enterprise must detect, track, and analyze military movements and other activities in real-time by using a variety of air, surface, and space sensors that collect and share information from multiple domains. Golden Dome is a major part of this solution. It is time for the nation to rebuild its northern tier defenses.

The Mitchell Institute Policy Papers is a series presenting new thinking and policy proposals to respond to the emerging security and aerospace power challenges of the 21st century. These papers are written for lawmakers and their staffs, policy professionals, business and industry, academics, journalists, and the informed public.

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