 U.S. ramps up military training for possible combat operations with Russia and China in Arctic. In recent years, the United States has been ramping up its preparations for dominance in the Arctic. This move reflects growing concerns over the actions of Russia and China, both of whom seek to expand their access to the Arctic for trade, resources and projecting power into this strategic region according to Business Insider. The U.S. is entering a new era of heightened strategic rivalry in the Arctic and the more adversaries operate in the region, the greater the likelihood of conflict. Back in 2021, the U.S. military published its new strategy aimed at restoring Arctic dominance leading to a reorganization of its forces and priorities in Alaska. The strategy highlighted how rapidly melting sea ice around the Arctic Circle, where warming occurs twice as fast as the rest of the world, opens up new opportunities for natural resource extraction, shipping routes and commercial fishing, resulting in increased Arctic navigation. With ice melting, access to the region expands, heightening its unpredictability. While the U.S. has long paid special attention to its military presence in Alaska and its ability to project force into the Arctic since World War II, the peak of this attention came during the Cold War era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent focus on counterinsurgency warfare in the Middle East, the military was consumed with other priorities, leading to its deterioration of its Arctic capabilities. Now, the military hopes to rebuild its Arctic muscles that have atrophied over the past 20 years. Part of this process involves increasing military presence in the region to strengthen ties with allies such as Canada and Denmark. It also entails using this presence to deter Russia and China. Russia may wage war in Ukraine for years, but ammunition quality in doubt. Russia can likely keep fighting in Ukraine at the current scale for two to five more years. The Wall Street Journal reported citing military experts. This ability comes despite sanctions aimed at crippling Russia's defense industry. Russia's ability to churn out tanks, missiles and shells has surprised the West and heaped further pressure on Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal said Russia has ramped up spending with defense now accounting for over 21 percent of the federal budget significantly higher than in 2020. It is predicted that this share will increase in 2024 to more than 29 percent. Russia also found ways to work around sanctions, acquiring Western components through intermediaries. Second Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in December that Russia was producing 17.5 times as much ammunition, 17 times as many drones, and 5.6 times as many tanks as it did before the war. A senior NATO official stated that Russia can likely sustain its war effort at the current scale for two to five more years and at least two European military intelligence agencies share this belief, the Wall Street Journal said. The central bank's analysis also shows that much of the increase in defense-related output was in low-tech products, such as fabricated steel rather than more sophisticated items like semiconductors for which Russia is reliant on foreign suppliers. The article said, some analysts question Moscow's production boasts. Russia's output figures, for instance, don't differentiate between newly produced armored vehicles and old models brought out of storage and refurbished, the publication said. They are hyping up the numbers, said Michael Yasta, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based on a review of satellite images before and after the start of the war. In 2023, Russia brought out at least 1,200 old tanks from storage. Yasta said, therefore Russia produced 330 new tanks in 2023 at the very most, though the true figure is likely to be half that number, he said. Russia has also dipped into reserves of old artillery ammunition, the journalist said. The stockpile now stands at around 3 million rounds, much of which is in poor condition. The Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based think tank, said. Russia's domestic ammunition production isn't sufficient to meet its needs for waging war in Ukraine, meaning Moscow will grow more dependent on foreign allies, the analysts said. Houthi's target US ships, Russia profiting from Houthi Red Sea attacks. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi Group fired missiles at a Liberian flagged container ship in the Red Sea but did not hit the vessel. The US Central Command said two anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired at the Pinocchio from Yemeni territory, US Central Command said resulting in no damage or injuries. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sari earlier said the group had targeted and hit the ship which he described as American. Sari said the Houthi Group would escalate their military operations during the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in response to the war in Gaza. The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and redesignated the militia as a terrorist group. Air strikes attributed to the US-British coalition hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen on March the 11th, killing at least 11 people and injuring 14 a spokesperson for Yemeni's internationally recognized government told Reuters. US Central Command said it conducted six self-defense strikes on Monday in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The strikes destroyed an unmanned underwater vessel and 18 anti-ship missiles which US Central Command said presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region. Meanwhile, Russia has been heavily sanctioned since invading Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Many goods that normally traveled by ground through Russia on their way from Asia to Europe were shifted to the Red Sea route as a result. German shipping company DHL reportedly said that requests for shipments using Moscow's state-owned company Russian Railways had skyrocketed by 40% since the Houthis forced the longer route to become commonplace in December. The requests have picked up since the beginning of the situation in the Red Sea by around 40%. DHL told the Financial Times, the overwhelming amount is going through Russia. Similarly, specialist shipping companies Railgate Europe and the Railbridge Cargo both said that demands for commercial shipments to take the Russian Rail route had increased by over 30% following the Houthi attacks.