An invasion for a hostile place like that would be extremely reliant on supplies. Running out of supplies means rapidly becoming completely unable to fight and probably even freezing to death.
Ships would be vulnerable to submarines and arctic ice. The US would have to rely mainly on its air power but the weather there can make it extremely difficult, if not impossible for long periods of time. It is also extremely challenging to distribute those supplies on land over long distances.
And that’s even supposing that your soldiers even know the basics of how to survive in an Arctic environment like that or they’d just die on their own. And having done some cold weather exercises with Americans, I can tell you that the vast majority of them don’t stand a chance against the elements. Leave them there to their own devices for two days and the survivors will be surrendering to the locals in exchange for a warm place to be.
Really, a place like that has many, many ways to make an invasion go wrong.
I hate it, but unless the world begins stationing defenses in Greenland there’s no chance. The US doesn’t even need aircraft. They have ballistic missiles that can reach from the mainland to Greenland.
The US spent decades ensuring it can project power anywhere in the world at any time, and don’t think Greenland is a unique environment for the US military. Several northern Alaskan bases have been in operation since the cold war. They know the environment.
It’s scary. I’d imagine all cities would be lost within days and the most remote areas would be able to host an insurgency. See Afghanistan, but if the US is going to annex Greenland they will throw even more resources at it
An invasion for a hostile place like that would be extremely reliant on supplies. Running out of supplies means rapidly becoming completely unable to fight and probably even freezing to death.
Ships would be vulnerable to submarines and arctic ice. The US would have to rely mainly on its air power but the weather there can make it extremely difficult, if not impossible for long periods of time. It is also extremely challenging to distribute those supplies on land over long distances.
And that’s even supposing that your soldiers even know the basics of how to survive in an Arctic environment like that or they’d just die on their own. And having done some cold weather exercises with Americans, I can tell you that the vast majority of them don’t stand a chance against the elements. Leave them there to their own devices for two days and the survivors will be surrendering to the locals in exchange for a warm place to be.
Really, a place like that has many, many ways to make an invasion go wrong.
I hate it, but unless the world begins stationing defenses in Greenland there’s no chance. The US doesn’t even need aircraft. They have ballistic missiles that can reach from the mainland to Greenland.
The US spent decades ensuring it can project power anywhere in the world at any time, and don’t think Greenland is a unique environment for the US military. Several northern Alaskan bases have been in operation since the cold war. They know the environment.
It’s scary. I’d imagine all cities would be lost within days and the most remote areas would be able to host an insurgency. See Afghanistan, but if the US is going to annex Greenland they will throw even more resources at it
It’s a bit easier when they already have a base in Greenland
Not an arm chair general but I found this former finnish officer’s take on the outcomes interesting / educational: https://youtu.be/8hdthsG8tks
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