Allied Command Operations (ACO), responsible for planning and executing all NATO exercises, activities, and operations, launched Arctic Sentry on 11 February 2026.
NATO MARCOM press release
The multi-domain activity will further strengthen NATO’s posture in the Arctic and High North as persistent NATO presence in the region grows.
“Arctic Sentry underscores the Alliance’s commitment to safeguard its members and maintain stability in one of the world’s most strategically significant and environmentally challenging areas,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
“It will leverage NATO’s strength to protect our territory and ensure the Arctic and High North remains secure.”
This builds on NATO’s growing focus on Arctic security and follows a meeting between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month in Davos, Switzerland, where the two leaders agreed that NATO should collectively take more responsibility for the defence of the region considering Russia’s military activity and China’s growing interest there.
The preparations for Arctic Sentry provided NATO planners with full visibility of Allied nations’ activities in the Arctic and High North. Moving forward, ACO will use Arctic Sentry to cohere these actions into one overarching operational approach to Allies’ increasing activities, which will enhance NATO’s presence there.
These activities include, among others, Denmark’s Arctic Endurance, a series of multi-domain exercises designed to enhance Allied ability to operate in the region, and Norway’s upcoming exercise Cold Response, where troops from across the Alliance have already begun to arrive.
Arctic Sentry will be led by Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFC Norfolk), the Alliance’s newest Joint Force Command, whose area of responsibility, since December, now includes this entire region.
“In terms of NATO’s Joint Force Commands, Norfolk is the bridge between North America and Europe, defending the strategic approaches between the two continents and much more,” said Grynkewich, who received a briefing on Arctic Sentry planning from the joint force command there yesterday.
ACO and JFC Norfolk will collaborate with Allied Command Transformation and coordinate activities with the U.S. and Canada’s North American Regional Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), as well as with U.S. Northern Command and U.S. European Command.
