U.S. and Canadian warplanes are converging on the Arctic at a moment when the region’s ice is thinning and the politics are hardening. The latest deployments to Greenland are framed as routine air defense drills, yet they are unfolding against a backdrop of President Donald Trump’s renewed push to take control of the island and a wider contest for influence across the polar north.
As aircraft head for the remote U.S. outpost at Pituffik Space Base, the only American military installation in Greenland, the island’s once-sleepy role in global security is being recast. What was long a Cold War listening post is now a focal point for missile warning, space tracking, and a high-stakes argument over who will shape the future of the Arctic.
Why Greenland’s lone U.S. base suddenly matters again
Greenland’s geography has always been strategic, but the current buildup is turning that map advantage into daily reality. The island sits between North America and Europe, astride key air and sea routes and within reach of the polar approaches that Russian bombers and submarines increasingly use, a fact that helps explain why Washington is reinforcing its presence on Greenland even as it clashes with allies over Trump’s takeover rhetoric. The main hub for that presence is Pituffik Space Base, known in Greenlandic and by its IATA code THU and ICAO code BGTL, which anchors U.S. missile warning radars and space surveillance in the high north.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, formally The North American Aerospace Defense Command, is now sending its aircraft to that U.S. base in Greenland as part of a long-planned air defense operation spanning Alaska, Canada and the continental United States. U.S. warplanes from the North American Aerospace Defense Command are set to arrive in Greenland for exercises that officials insist are about defending North America, not changing the island’s political status.
Routine drills or leverage in Trump’s takeover push?
Officials at NORAD have gone out of their way to stress that the aircraft deployment to Greenland is routine, part of a recurring series of Arctic air defense drills. F-16 Fighting Falcons from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska are among the jets heading north for Operation Noble Defender at Pittuf, while U.S. and Canadian aircraft are on their way to Greenland for a long-planned North Ameri air defense mission. U.S. and Canadian CF jets have already scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft in the Arctic, with U.S. F-35s and Canadian CF fighters responding to Russian military jets in the Arctic, underscoring why commanders want more assets forward.
Yet the timing is impossible to separate from politics. The US military will deploy aircraft to Pituffik Space Base as tensions escalate over President Donald Trump’s takeover bid, with ISTANBUL based reporting tying the move directly to his push. As President Donald Trump unleashes fresh threats of tariffs on European allies over their opposition to his Greenland ambitions, Cybele Mayes and Osterman Kim Hjelmgaard of USA TODAY have detailed how U.S. and European nations are sending troops to Greenland, with the story timestamped at 1:55 p.m. ET and explicitly framed around his pressure campaign.
Trump has said there is “no going back” on his Greenland takeover push, even as U.S. military aircraft are arriving at Pituffik Space Base, the only U.S. military base in Greenland, and European states respond with their own set of heavy tariffs. The United States is set to send military aircraft to Greenland in strategic Arctic defence moves that heighten diplomatic tensions with Denmark and NATO, with Strat analysis noting that Copenhagen and the alliance were not fully informed about the deployment in advance. That gap in consultation is precisely what makes allies wonder whether “routine” drills are being used as leverage in a much larger sovereignty dispute.
Exercises, upgrades and a broader Arctic militarization
Beyond the immediate deployment, Washington is quietly locking in a long-term footprint. U.S. officials are planning major military base upgrades in Greenland, with two defense officials saying U.S. troops are on standby for possible duty on the island. A separate solicitation describes major airfield upgrades in the works for the U.S. military base in Greenland, with John Vandiver of Stars and Stripes reporting on a North American Aerospace Defense Command F-16 Fighting Falcon and detailing how the work is expected to run through the end of 2026, as laid out in Stars and Stripes. Those investments would harden the runway and support facilities at Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Force Base, which is described in detail in the entry on Pituffik Space Base.
The deployments are also nested inside a wider pattern of Arctic activity. The United States was invited to join Operation Arctic Endurance, a 2026 Danish-led military exercise in Greenland in the Kingdom of Denmark, which explicitly references Trump’s earlier talk of a “Total purchase of Greenland”. At the same time, U.S. and European nations are sending troops to Greenland, with Germany dispatching 13 military personnel to Greenland and officials acknowledging it is not immediately clear how long the deployments will last. As U.S. F-35s and Canadian CF fighters intercept Russian aircraft in the Arctic, highlighted in the “ICY BUILDUP” coverage of NORAD, the line between exercise and escalation looks thinner by the week.
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