The Arctic Will Be Occupied
Arctic control is shifting quietly—and Canada is not keeping pace
🎯 Three-Shot Burst
The Globe & Mail argues that Venezuela’s fate is a warning for Canada:
The government needs to lay out a road map to rebuilding Canada’s military capacity, with particular attention on Arctic defence. If Canada continues to leave a vacuum, the Americans will fill it. And they will stay, eroding and eventually displacing Canadian control of the Arctic.
Reality check: If Canada continues to leave a vacuum in the Arctic, it is not just the Americans we must worry about. The Arctic is strategic for our adversaries. China and Russia are already pulling ahead in Arctic drone capability. The Arctic won’t be “invaded.” It’ll be operationally controlled through infrastructure presence. In 2025, Chinese military and research vessels operated around Arctic waters in unprecedented numbers:
Last year, [China] built and deployed its first domestically designed icebreaker in 10 months.
Bottom Line: The Arctic will be occupied, and Canada is not ready for an Arctic conflict. Our immediate focus must be on both increased surveillance — knowing what and who is poking around up there — and having military assets in place to deter any aggressor before they consider operating in Canada’s North.
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Dominion Dynamics is expanding our team and we’re looking for ambitious Canadians who want to build sovereign technology for the future of national defence.
🤝 Deal Corner
Engineering professors Ashwin Iyer and James Hogan run an academic research centre focused on defence and dual-use technology that the University of Alberta calls the first of its kind in Canada.
The University of Alberta’s Centre for Applied Research in Defence and Dual-use Technologies (CARDD-Tech), which the two professors co-direct, develops military technology that can also serve to benefit civilians.
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⚔️ Combat Readiness
The Venezuelan “early warning” radar system, supported by China and Russia, was rendered useless after being instantly paralyzed by the US Air Force.
The Economist’s defence editor asks if America’s raid into Venezuela, involving more than 150 planes and stealthy helicopters, pointed to the enduring importance of traditional systems.
Over the past few years, Venezuela has invested heavily in procuring air defence and defence equipment from China and Russia, attempting to build a long-range early warning and interception system for the capital region. Among these, China’s JY-27 series radars have long been touted as “stealth fighter killers,” claiming they can detect the tracks of US F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters; the Russian-made S-300VM system has been portrayed as the strongest air defence shield in South America.
Publicly available materials also mention China as a key supplier, including the JYL-1 air defence radar and the JY-11B air surveillance radar; at the air force level, this includes K-8 series aircraft and Y-8 transport aircraft, used to support air situation awareness and mobility support.
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Editor’s note: Eagle-eyed reader M.M. notes, in reference to the Buy Canadian policy, that Canada did not sign the procurement chapter of CUSMA and as such, has no procurement obligations under that agreement to US companies
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