In one of the coldest places on the planet, the Franz Josef Land archipelago, the Russian military has completed the construction of a military base. It is called "Arctic Shamrock", because the shape resembles a flower. The complex is so equipped with everything you need that, if necessary, you can live in it in complete isolation for a whole year and a half.
Since 2007, construction of a secret facility has begun on the island of Alexandra Land in the Arctic Ocean. Only 10 years later it became known that a Russian military complex called the Arctic Shamrock was being built here.
The scale of the base is striking, because the construction took place in extreme conditions. But in this region there are rich deposits of oil and natural gas. In addition, the island is also the location of the air defense unit of the Northern Fleet.
In total, the base consists of 70 buildings designed to employ 150 people. In the center is the central building in which the employees will live. On one tier there are single block cabins, and on the other - two and three-bed cabins. All buildings are interconnected by passages. In the Arctic cold, this is a vital solution. The average January temperature is minus 24 degrees Celsius, but sometimes the thermometer can drop to minus 52 degrees.
An autonomous high-capacity boiler house maintains heat at the base, while the surrounding snow serves as a source of water. In the event of complete isolation and lack of external communication, the resources of the Arctic Shamrock will be enough to provide the workers with everything they need for a whole year and a half.
Next, we will talk about how the construction of the unique military facility “Arctic Shamrock”, which is located on Franz Josef Land, is progressing. The uniqueness of this structure lies in the fact that a military facility of this scale is being built for the first time so close to the North Pole.
Today, the Arctic Shamrock is the only capital construction project in the world that is being built at 80 degrees north latitude.
Alexandra Land is an island with an area of 1130 square kilometers, which is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. During World War II, a German weather station and a submarine base were located on the island.
The relevance of Alexandra Land as a military base has increased significantly after the creation in December 2014 of the Joint Strategic Command "North", designed to comprehensively ensure the security of the Russian Arctic region. The three main tasks of this security are the defense of the shelf of the Arctic seas, the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage.
The administrative and residential complex "Arctic Shamrock" is a five-story shamrock painted in the colors of the Russian tricolor, between the rays of which there are three ellipsoids - an administrative block, a public catering block, as well as a cultural and leisure center combined with a medical service block.
The Arctic Shamrock is the second complex of a closed cycle being built in the interests of the Northern Fleet in the high-latitude regions of the Arctic. The first to be built at the 75th degree of northern latitude was the Northern Clover AJC on Kotelny Island of the Novosibirsk Islands archipelago.
In the center of the trefoil there is an atrium - a multi-light space illuminated through glazing in the roof and stained-glass windows located in the side walls. Above the central pillar of the atrium is viewpoint, protected by translucent structures, which allows visual observation of the main objects of military infrastructure.
In fact, this is a complex for life and work, equal in autonomy to a space station. The autonomy of the complex will ensure comfortable living and performance of official duties by a group of 150 people for a year and a half.
The total area of the complex is more than 14 thousand square meters.
The residential block in the "Arctic Trefoil" consists of modules for one, two and three people.
Dining room
More than 800 people work at the construction site. The construction of the Arctic Shamrock is carried out using innovative and energy-efficient technologies that minimize energy consumption.
The work is carried out by the legendary enterprise - Spetsstroy of Russia. The work is carried out in the most difficult climatic conditions: squally wind, snowstorm, arctic frosts. For the construction of structures, absolutely everything is imported from the mainland along the Northern Sea Route. Delivery is possible only during the summer navigation period - these are four months a year.
The complex is designed in such a way that such facilities as a power unit, a boiler house, power plants, treatment facilities, warehouses and storage facilities are connected by heated passages, which means that military personnel will not need to go out in the cold, which here reaches minus 52 degrees.
Roads have been paved on the island, a coastal pumping station has been built and is functioning, which makes it possible to receive fuel from tankers and supply it to the fuel and lubricants warehouse.
This is one of the five garrisons that are now being built in the northern latitudes. The complex on Franz Josef Land is Russia's northernmost outpost in the Arctic.
Similar towns are planned to be built along the entire northern border of Russia.
In the northernmost point of Russia, on the archipelago of Franz Josef Land, a unique military facility "Arctic Shamrock" is being built. No one has ever built military installations of this magnitude so close to the North Pole. Only Russian people are capable of this!-)
© The post contains personal pictures and photographs of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Today, the Arctic Shamrock is the only capital construction project in the world that is being built at 80 degrees north latitude.
Alexandra Land is an island with an area of 1130 square kilometers, which is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. During World War II, a German weather station and a submarine base were located on the island.
The relevance of Alexandra Land as a military base has increased significantly after the creation in December 2014 of the Joint Strategic Command "North", designed to comprehensively ensure the security of the Russian Arctic region. The three main tasks of this security are the defense of the shelf of the Arctic seas, the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage.
The administrative and residential complex "Arctic Shamrock" is a five-story shamrock painted in the colors of the Russian tricolor, between the rays of which there are three ellipsoids - an administrative block, a public catering block, as well as a cultural and leisure center combined with a medical service block.
The Arctic Shamrock is the second complex of a closed cycle being built in the interests of the Northern Fleet in the high-latitude regions of the Arctic. The first to be built at the 75th degree of northern latitude was the Northern Clover AJC on Kotelny Island of the Novosibirsk Islands archipelago.
In the center of the trefoil there is an atrium - a multi-light space illuminated through glazing in the roof and stained-glass windows located in the side walls. Above the central support of the atrium there is an observation deck, protected by translucent structures, which allows visual observation of the main objects of military infrastructure.
In fact, this is a complex for life and work, equal in autonomy to a space station. The autonomy of the complex will ensure comfortable living and performance of official duties by a group of 150 people for a year and a half.
The total area of the complex is more than 14 thousand square meters.
The residential block in the "Arctic Trefoil" consists of modules for one, two and three people.
Dining room
More than 800 people work at the construction site. The construction of the Arctic Shamrock is carried out using innovative and energy-efficient technologies that minimize energy consumption.
The work is carried out by the legendary enterprise - Spetsstroy of Russia.
The complex is designed in such a way that such facilities as a power unit, a boiler house, power plants, treatment facilities, warehouses and storage facilities are connected by heated passages, which means that military personnel will not need to go out in the cold, which here reaches minus 52 degrees.
Roads have been paved on the island, a coastal pumping station has been built and is functioning, which makes it possible to receive fuel from tankers and supply it to the fuel and lubricants warehouse.
In the northernmost point of Russia, on the archipelago of Franz Josef Land, a unique military facility "Arctic Shamrock" is being built. No one has ever built military installations of this magnitude so close to the North Pole. Only Russian people are capable of this!
© The post contains personal pictures and photographs of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Today, the Arctic Shamrock is the only capital construction project in the world that is being built at 80 degrees north latitude.
Alexandra Land is an island with an area of 1130 square kilometers, which is part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago. During World War II, a German weather station and a submarine base were located on the island.
The relevance of Alexandra Land as a military base has increased significantly after the creation in December 2014 of the Joint Strategic Command "North", designed to comprehensively ensure the security of the Russian Arctic region. The three main tasks of this security are the defense of the shelf of the Arctic seas, the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage.
The administrative and residential complex "Arctic Shamrock" is a five-story shamrock painted in the colors of the Russian tricolor, between the rays of which there are three ellipsoids - an administrative block, a public catering block, as well as a cultural and leisure center combined with a medical service block.
The Arctic Shamrock is the second complex of a closed cycle being built in the interests of the Northern Fleet in the high-latitude regions of the Arctic. The first to be built at the 75th degree of northern latitude was the Northern Clover AJC on Kotelny Island of the Novosibirsk Islands archipelago.
In the center of the trefoil there is an atrium - a multi-light space illuminated through glazing in the roof and stained-glass windows located in the side walls. Above the central support of the atrium there is an observation deck, protected by translucent structures, which allows visual observation of the main objects of military infrastructure.
In fact, this is a complex for life and work, equal in autonomy to a space station. The autonomy of the complex will ensure comfortable living and performance of official duties by a group of 150 people for a year and a half.
The total area of the complex is more than 14 thousand square meters.
The residential block in the "Arctic Trefoil" consists of modules for one, two and three people.
Dining room
More than 800 people work at the construction site. The construction of the Arctic Shamrock is carried out using innovative and energy-efficient technologies that minimize energy consumption.
The work is carried out by the legendary enterprise - Spetsstroy of Russia.
The complex is designed in such a way that such facilities as a power unit, a boiler house, power plants, treatment facilities, warehouses and storage facilities are connected by heated passages, which means that military personnel will not need to go out in the cold, which here reaches minus 52 degrees.
Roads have been paved on the island, a coastal pumping station has been built and is functioning, which makes it possible to receive fuel from tankers and supply it to the fuel and lubricants warehouse.
Now there is even a chapel on the island, where they will take care of the fortress of the spiritual bonds of soldiers and officers.
The Arctic is in the zone of strategic interests of our country, therefore, in April, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu personally inspected Russia's northernmost military base.
This is one of the five garrisons that are now being built in the northern latitudes. The complex on Franz Josef Land is Russia's northernmost outpost in the Arctic. Similar towns are planned to be built along the entire northern border of Russia.
ALL PHOTOS
A section dedicated to the Arctic Shamrock military base, built on Alexandra Island in the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the Arctic, has appeared on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Visitors to the resource are offered a virtual tour of the base to get acquainted with its structure and the life of the military living on it.
"The military infrastructure of the Arctic base consists of numerous special-purpose facilities, as well as command and control centers, garages for military and special equipment, an autonomous power unit, specialized warehouses and storage facilities. The Arctic Shamrock is completely autonomous, and the optimal location of residential and office premises of the military base ensures comfortable living it has up to 150 military personnel for a year and a half," the military department said in a press release.
The 3D tour of the base "visually demonstrates how the rooms for the military personnel, the officer's canteen, the gym and the cinema and concert halls, the atrium, the library, the greenhouse, and the medical unit are equipped and equipped."
"With the help of the Internet application, visitors to the website of the Ministry of Defense will be able to interactively evaluate the convenient and ergonomic modular layout of the base, which allows the Russian military to perform service and combat tasks in the most difficult climatic conditions of the Arctic," the Ministry of Defense emphasizes.
Also, for the convenience of users, the application contains a photo gallery of objects of the residential complex "Arctic Shamrock" with the possibility of downloading in high resolution.
The military reports that the administrative-residential complex (AZhK) "Arctic Shamrock" is the only capital construction facility in the world built at 80 degrees north latitude. Its area is more than 14 thousand square meters. m. The facility was built using innovative and energy efficient technologies. For the first time, AZhK used the principle of creating a technical floor, where equipment is located that comfortably serves all communications, including in cold weather.
Recall that in early August 2016, the UN Commission began considering Russia's application to expand the boundaries of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean. The total area of the territory claimed by Russia is 1 million 191 thousand square meters. km. Following the presentation of the application to the UN in February 2016, it was reported that, as a rule, the commission makes its decision within two to four years.
Meanwhile, Canada and Denmark claim part of the territories in the Russian application. In addition, Norway and the United States also claim various areas of the Arctic Ocean floor.
The interest of states in the northern seas is dictated by the fact that their bowels contain 83 billion tons of standard fuel. Of these, about 80% are in the Barents and Kara Seas.
In addition, the West suspects that Russia is going, as soon as possible, to take advantage of the likely future climate changes that will turn the Arctic ice into an important sea route that provides the country with economic and tactical advantages.
If agreements on the shelf cannot be reached, the Arctic may become a likely place for future wars, the press believes. At the same time, it was noted that the Kremlin is much better prepared for open conflict or familiar competition, since Moscow not only owns more than 40 icebreakers, but also conducts the largest military development of the Arctic since the Cold War.
Russia has more Arctic bases than any other country
As Newsweek magazine wrote, Russia has more Arctic bases than any other country and is building new ones, including 13 new airfields and 10 air defense radar stations in the Arctic, the article says. The United States is in a losing position - Washington does not have such resources, it has only two old icebreakers that are not able to compete with the Arctic technology of the Russian Federation.
At the end of last year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the continuation of the strengthening of the group of Russian troops in the Arctic. He also noted that the Russian Federation was forced to increase the number of fighter aircraft sorties by 61% in order to prevent violations of the country's airspace in the Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic.
Against the background of concerns expressed by representatives of Western countries in connection with the strengthening of the military presence of the Russian Federation in the Arctic, the Russian authorities insist on the exclusively peaceful nature of activities in the region and the desire to cooperate with other countries. Thus, Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier urged not to make the Arctic a place "for the geopolitical games of military blocs."
In March of this year, President Putin visited the island of Alexandra Land in the Franz Josef Land archipelago, where he got acquainted with the results of the work to eliminate the environmental damage in the Arctic zone, which he announced back in 2011. After that, he reiterated that Russia proceeds from the fact that there is no potential for conflicts in the Arctic.
