America Turns to Finland for Icebreakers It Struggles to Build at Home

gCaptain ^ | December 30, 2025 | Paul Morgan

[artichokegrower]

The United States just signed contracts for Finland to build American warships, a stark admission that the world’s most powerful navy can no longer construct the specialized vessels it desperately needs.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: arctic; boblrussian; china; coastguard; finland; icebreaker; icebreakers; maritimesecurity; overruns; polarsilkroad; russia; traderoutes; uscoastguard; usn

[artichokegrower]

The contrast with the domestic heavy icebreaker program is brutal. The first Polar Security Cutter was supposed to be operational in 2024. It’s now unlikely to enter service before 2030, six years late. The original 2019 contract was for $746 million. Current estimates put the first ship alone at $1.9 billion, with total program costs exceeding $5 billion for three vessels.

Anyone demoted, fired, lost their pension, thrown in jail.

[pissant]

when did icebreakers become warships?

[eyeamok]

The Climate Change War on C02

[Sacajaweau]

War of the Ice...

[piasa]

Unprecedented Chinese Icebreaker Deployment Off Alaska Being Monitored By U.S.
TWZ ^ | 08/08/2025 | Howard Altman
Posted on 8/11/2025, 5:14:08 PM by DFG

The U.S. military and Coast Guard are monitoring the simultaneous appearance of five Chinese icebreaking vessels in the Arctic region near Alaska. That unprecedented presence represents two and a half times the number of icebreakers currently capable of being operated in the entire Arctic region by the U.S. Coast Guard. Another is scheduled to be commissioned on Sunday and plans are underway to build dozens more.

The Chinese icebreakers, which include a number of research-focused types, are being monitored by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), a NORTHCOM spokesperson told The War Zone Thursday evening. The presence of so many Chinese icebreaking ships near Alaska was first reported by the gCaptain maritime news website.

“Although the vessels are operating in international waters and are not considered a Homeland Defense threat, their numbers represent an increase from years past,” the spokesperson said. “NORAD and USNORTHCOM will continue to monitor the ships’ progress while operating in the region.”....

[Sacajaweau]

Russia has a fleet of nuclear icebreakers

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

[PAR35]

Russians are good at building icebreakers. Maybe we can trade some computer chips, drilling equipment, and aircraft engines to them for a couple of icebreakers.

[Sacajaweau]

Thanks Gov...

[Sacajaweau]

Not to worry....”Made In China”

[grobdriver]

when did icebreakers become warships?

When it fits the America Last narrative of the leftists.

[Maine Mariner]

When the Russians built nuclear powered ice breakers to move cargo through the Northeast Passage-aka the Northern Sea Route.

To sign agreements with various Finnish shipbuilding companies makes a lot of sense-they have the experts and we don’t.

[kawhill]

I know one thing, Lapua designed a rifle cartridge we couldn’t...the .416 Rigby belted case? Seriously?

[sport]

You are joking, right?

[sport]

They had them for years.

[alternatives?]

Are we requiring DEI, environmental impact, and green energy from Finland?

[BobL]

“America Turns to Finland for Icebreakers It Struggles to Build at Home”

Just think, if it wasn’t for the Neocon War in Ukraine, we could buy NUCLEAR powered ice breakers from Russia, likely far cheaper than even conventional ones from Finland...and perhaps they’d even help us develop our own capability.

[Sacajaweau]

I know. Just pointing out how far ahead they are.

60 years ago, I worked for Gleason Works in Rochester NY. Russia was one of our biggest clients. We sold them machines that make gears. Don't know if any connection still exists.

[johnnygeneric]

I call it: the problem of Lost Technology. If you’ve forgotten how to make something, where do you start to get back that technology? I wrote a blog a while back regarding how a major American soap manufacuturer had forgotten how to make the bars of soap. When the story was conveyed to me I exptrapolated it to...well, everything America doesn’t make anymore. How much would it cost? How long would it take? It’s a terrible situation. Especilly, if time is not on your side.

[BobL]

“They had them for years.”

Decades, and unlike the Neocons, the Russians do not DESTROY their capabilities when they close out a program...which is why Russia is now halfway through building another fleet of nuclear ice breakers, and they are totally kick-ass, too.