NATO soldiers say they can’t let guns get too hot if they want to work on frozen battlefields

• Frozen weapons are among the many challenges NATO soldiers would face in an Arctic conflict.

• Soldiers must be careful not to let the harsh elements cause their weapons to malfunction.

• But I can’t let the guns get too hot either, because that creates new problems.

SODANKYLÄ, Finland — Among the many challenges NATO soldiers face in the harsh Arctic environment, the possibility of frozen weapons is one that risks leaving them most vulnerable.

It’s anything but easy to keep guns, drones and other equipment in the right conditions far above the Arctic Circle, where temperatures routinely drop below 0 degrees Fahrenheit and heavy snow brings unwanted moisture that can cause jams and other problems.

NATO military personnel training in northern Finland told Business Insider during a visit to the region in late January that they can’t afford to let their weapons get too hot if they want to work in this climate.

The biggest problem with the weapons in these conditions is the variation in temperature, said Major Mikael Aikio, head of the Finnish Army’s Jaeger Brigade arctic section, who is leading a winter warfare training course and a cold weather survival course for about 20 NATO soldiers.

The month-long course, hosted in Finland’s northern Lapland region, teaches NATO soldiers how to live, move and fight in the harsh Arctic environment.

This type of training has become a growing priority for NATO as officials call for greater Arctic defense amid increased Russian and Chinese activity in the High North. Western forces could find themselves fighting on frozen battlefields as the alliance and its adversaries compete for influence in this strategic region.

“My hands are my worst enemy”

Lapland, like other northern regions of NATO’s seven Arctic states, is a difficult place to operate in winter. The cold, limited sunlight and deep snow force the troops to move slowly and cautiously. And limited support infrastructure makes sustainment even more difficult in the north.

In the Arctic, survival is only the first challenge. Troops must also keep their weapons in service; even minor equipment malfunctions can give an advantage to the enemy.

Canadian Capt. Vincent Lemelin, one of the participants in the Arctic warfare training course, said that all technology fights in this part of the world, especially anything that requires charging, such as drones.

Anything that is covered in snow eventually becomes damp or wet, Lemelin said, so Soldiers try to keep their weapons cold at all times to avoid melting ice or snow and introducing any moisture that could freeze and prevent proper operation.

Finnish Lt. Laura Lähdekorpi, another participant in the course, said she carries a brush with her at all times to clean snow from the gun, especially from sensitive areas such as optics, which are more vulnerable to buildup. Soldiers are trained to make sure their weapons are dry to prevent freezing.

Lähdekorpi said that shooting a cold weapon is a challenge. Her outer gloves are too bulky, so she takes them off and uses a thin liner to pull the trigger, but that leaves her hands exposed to the gun’s cold metal frame.

“I think my hands are my worst enemy,” she said. “I have to keep them warm.”

Proper gun care doesn’t stop when training stops. Soldiers are taught to keep their weapons at a constant ambient temperature. Bringing them into a warm tent, for example, can cause condensation that later refreezes.

Soldiers cannot leave weapons outside their tents as they could be stolen in real conditions. Instead, I bring them inside, but put the weapons on the ground or in a space almost as cold as outside.

Proper temperature management of firearms is not the only struggle with equipment in the harsh Arctic. Drones are also relatively limited in capabilities, especially in extreme cold conditions when temperatures drop below -14 degrees Fahrenheit.

During a combat exercise in the middle of the Arctic war, soldiers practiced using drones to collect targeting data and call in artillery strikes against a simulated enemy force of Finnish conscripts.

The use of small drones for reconnaissance, targeting and fire support missions is standard practice in Russia’s war against Ukraine, and they are expected to continue to be a key part of the kill chain in future conflicts, despite their limitations.

Aikio, a Jaeger Brigade major, said drones need special handling in arctic conditions. Leaving them exposed on snowmobiles before launch risks damage from the elements, and once airborne, ice on small propellers and limited visibility can quickly degrade performance.

Learning to maintain weapons and other operational equipment in this environment is one of the many skills NATO soldiers are taught to master in Finland, about a third of which are above the Arctic Circle. The country also knows cold weather fighting, making it well suited to teaching the rest of the alliance winter warfare.

Lemelin, the Canadian captain, described the course as a “humbling experience”; it is a critical exposure for the NATO alliance as Western militaries face a rapidly changing Arctic environment and an expanding adversary footprint.

Read the original article on Business Insider