Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, the top U.S. general in Europe, testified that Greenland is vital to U.S. national security.
As U.S. President Donald Trump continues to seek control of Greenland, the top U.S. military commander in Europe said the massive island is vital to America’s national security. The main issue, he said, is that Greenland’s geographic location makes it a key landmass from which to track Russian submarines before they have a chance to disappear into the Atlantic Ocean and potentially endanger the East Coast. You can read more about the strategic importance of Greenland in our deep dive here.
“Access to the airspace and water space found in Greenland is absolutely critical for the United States,” said U.S. Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and head of U.S. European Command. Cavoli addressed the security value of Greenland during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.
“The key there is it forms the western border of the Greenland, Iceland, UK (GIUK) gap, which is that body of water through which Russian submarines from the Northern Fleet in Murmansk come up and then down through that gap,” Cavoli stated. Murmansk is home to some of Russia’s most capable submarines, like the Yasen-M class nuclear-powered cruise missile carrying Kazan.
The threat of Russian submarines in the Atlantic has been so great that in 2021 the U.S. Navy established a dedicated anti-sub task group of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that was officially named Task Group Greyhound, which you can read more about here. The increasing Russian submarine activity sparked a warning five years ago from a top U.S. Navy officer that the East Coast was no longer a safe haven for the sea service’s ships and submarines.
The value of the GIUK Gap is not lost on Russia, either. In 2019, it launched its largest drill since the Cold War, sending at least 10 submarines from Murmansk through that region.
