The Pentagon last week launched the annual Deep Freeze operation to deliver goods and food to the research polar stations in Antarctica.
Hundreds of reservists are involved in the mission, most of whom at least 500 are assigned to the 109 wing flying to the New York International Airport, the only formation in the US armed forces that has a permanent “certificate” for taking off and landing on snowy or icy aerodrome.
The US Department of Defense has been conducting Deep Freeze operation for the past 31 years, the officially declared goal of which is to replenish inventories and food supplies at the largest Antarctic polar station, McMurdo.
For the delivery of cargo to small research polar points inside the Antarctic, six military transport aircraft LC-130 Hercules are used, which have special skis for landing on the snow strip on the landing gear.
Over the next six months, the crews of the LC-130 Hercules transporters are expected to fly more than 200 flights with a total duration of over 1800 hours over the course of the next six months.
In addition to the humanitarian goals of life support of research stations, the Pentagon in a similar way solves the problems of training flight personnel and engineering and technical personnel to act in harsh climatic conditions at low temperatures and strong polar winds. In addition, the crews receive the practice of airborne navigation over an unoriented terrain.
This suggests that the operation conducted by the US Department of Defense clearly indicates that the United States is preparing for a potential clash for domination in the area of other polar latitudes - the North Pole close to the Russian Federation.
