Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 433

Arctic Yearbook 2014 433 - in April 2011 2 US nuclear attack submarines participated in Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2011,operating under the Arctic ice. In the same exercise a camp was established 278 nautical kilometres north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. - the US Coast Guard regularly deploys OPVs in or near the Arctic - the new Legend (also known as National Security Cutter, NSC) class large OPVs have been designed partly to be able to operate in Arctic weather conditions better than the previous Hamilton class, but they are not ice-strengthened -8 are planned, the first 2 of which were commissioned in 2010–11 - the US Coast Guard operates 3 large, unarmed icebreakers capable of breaking Arctic ice, which have mainly scientific role - 1 of the ships is being modernized in the period 2009–13, and 1 has been out of service since 2010 and is scheduled for decommissioning due to budget constraints - plans for 1 large icebreaker under the Coast Guard in 2013-2017 Sources: (Wezeman, 2012; Argumenty i fakty, 2014 ; Lasserre-Le Roy-Garon, 2012) Russian Military Build-Up in the Arctic