NATO races to guard against Russian nuclear subs without the US

NATO races to guard against Russian nuclear subs without the US Allied forces gathered near Iceland to practice hunting for Russian submarines, with a key member missing. 09/05/2026 07:00 AM EDT KEFLAVIK, Iceland — Donald Trump’s turn away from NATO came to fruition last month in the waters off Iceland. Allied forces gathered here to practice hunting for Russian submarines, drawing German surveillance planes to scour the waves alongside Canadian warships and Belgian fighter jets. But for the first time since this decades-old annual exercise began, no American ships or aircraft joined the chase. The NATO forces, led by a French commander, aimed to prove to themselves and Moscow that they could protect the continent without American leadership. And in stepping back, the U.S. cemented a pullback that began with the second Trump administration — and further ceded the strategically important Arctic to its allies. “We see Europe and Canada stepping up, and we see it literally here in Iceland,” Iceland’s Defense chief, Jónas Allansson, said in an interview. The absence of American ships or aircraft is striking for an exercise, known as the Northern Viking, that the U.S. has led for decades. And while the Americans haven’t disappeared entirely — U.S. Navy construction crews are building new facilities on the military side of Keflavik airport and assisted with planning — other NATO allies are playing a more pronounced role. Iceland sits in the middle of the Russian Navy’s favorite route for pushing its stealthy, nuclear-capable submarines. The “GIUK Gap” as it is known in NATO parlance, is the patch of icy water between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K. where Russian nuclear-powered submarines enter the Atlantic from their bases on the Kola Peninsula. “For NATO and for Russia, this is really a dividing line,” said a senior NATO official, who was granted anonymity to discuss operational matters. “For the Russians, if they can control access to that gap, and get their submarines on the other side of it, then they’ve got free reign of the Atlantic and can hold bases on both sides of the Atlantic at risk.” The Arctic region was pushed into the spotlight last year when Trump threatened to buy or seize Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory and reliable NATO ally. The rhetoric — heightened with visits from Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., as well as the president’s on-again, off-again social media posts suggesting the U.S. military could just take the island — worried NATO leaders. They began to seriously discuss how to defend the territory from their longtime ally and fellow alliance member. It didn’t help that the U.S. was also threatening to pull troops out of Europe. The Pentagon and White House did not respond to requests for comment. “These types of exercises are what persistent presence in the North Atlantic is built on,” said NATO spokesperson Commander Timothy Pietrack. “It is proof that NATO is ready to defend every inch of allied territory and to operate wherever alliance security requires.” Russian threat The U.S. behavior comes as the threat from the Kremlin has increased. The Russian government appears to have launched a campaign to disrupt commercial and military logistics in Europe. Just this month, the German government took the rare move of publicly blaming Moscow for placing an explosives-leaden drone on the tarmac at the Leipzig airport and said that it would shut down a Russian consulate in response. CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a remarkable trip to Moscow last month partly to warn Russian officials against attacking NATO allies Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, POLITICO reported. The Russian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment. The backdrop of an expanding conflict with Moscow gives the allied exercises greater relevance — and makes it even more significant that the U.S. doesn’t have the leading role. Another NATO official, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue, said there hasn’t been a Russian warship in the Mediterranean since June, a radical departure from normal deployments. It has raised eyebrows inside the alliance as to Moscow’s plans. As Iceland’s Allansson put it, Russia’s “submarine bastion” around the island gives Moscow new avenues to use nuclear and conventional missiles that can hit North America and Western Europe. Missing ally Canadian, French and Portuguese sailors worked side by side on a recent afternoon from a Canadian warship. They monitored radar screens for mine hunters and worked with submarine-searching planes from Lithuania and elsewhere. French Rear Admiral Nicolas Molitor led the coalition from aboard the ship. He said the group is still conducting exercises with the U.S. Navy, including off the American East Coast. But it was clear the focus had changed. Just two years ago, two U.S. Navy amphibious ships full of Marines and aircraft led this exercise. But with most of the Navy now in the Middle East and Caribbean, the grey hulls in the North Atlantic are Canadian and European. These ships represent the “first line of defense for both sides of the Atlantic,” Molitor said. “It’s not only about Europe, but it’s also having European allies caring about what’s happening in the U.S.” The cable concern One of the biggest concerns for allies is undersea infrastructure, such as internet cables and pipelines. The German government is especially worried about the Baltic Sea where Russia is active. “Every Amazon order you do in Germany runs through these cables,” said German Navy Commander Peter Flohr. “So we need to keep a constant eye on them.” A German aircraft was in contact with the international flotilla operating off Iceland’s coast, mapping the sea floor and transmitting intelligence. It was a key test of how smoothly and quickly NATO ships and aircraft can push information through challenging Arctic environments. The officials acknowledged they were operating with a smaller force than previous years. But standing on the Canadian warship’s deck with a German submarine-hunting plane overhead and the French’s Auvergne frigate a few hundred yards over his shoulder, Molitor noted that the NATO ships are never alone. “We will always be sailing with allied ships,” he said, “and this is a strength.” Even if the Americans aren’t sailing with them.