Project Iceworm: A Cold War Plan To Hide Nukes Under Ice Explains Greenland's Distrust Of Trump - Beritaja

As the threat of atomic warfare loomed during the Cold War, the U.S. Army hatched a apical concealed scheme to conceal hundreds of rocket launchers connected obstruction lines hidden beneath the heavy crystal sheets of Greenland.

In lawsuit of a Soviet attack, nukes dispersed successful thousands of miles of cut-and-cover tunnels could beryllium launched wrong 20 minutes. The sanction for the effort was worthy of a Hollywood action movie: Project Iceworm.

“Iceworm formed portion of the broader U.S. ‘polar strategy,’ which saw the Arctic arsenic a important arena for Cold War atomic deterrence — a nonstop way for some Soviet onslaught and U.S. strategical defense,” said Kristian Nielsen, a historiographer of subject astatine Aarhus University successful Denmark and co-author of the book “Camp Century: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Arctic Military Base Under the Greenland Ice.”

American fascination pinch Greenland arsenic a guardant subject position is not new. Neither are Danish and Greenlandic doubts about the trustworthiness of the U.S. During the Cold War, a number of subject initiatives were kept concealed and ne'er disclosed to Greenlanders aliases the Danes.

“When the Iceworm documents were declassified successful 1996, they caused hostility and unease because they suggested the U.S. had explored awesome subject plans successful Greenland without informing Denmark,” Nielsen said.

The Danish authorities has many times rejected President Trump’s telephone to return over, aliases buy, Greenland, an autonomous territory that is portion of the Kingdom of Denmark. Public sentiment polls show that Greenlanders overwhelmingly reason American control.

Though Project Iceworm ne'er became reality, its history and that of U.S. subject activity successful Greenland do a batch to explicate wariness complete Trump’s plans for the island.

Just what those plans mightiness entail is unclear. “Greenland whitethorn still play a domiciled successful emerging U.S. missile-defense initiatives, specified arsenic [the] Golden Dome, early-warning systems, aliases hosting interceptor capabilities, though thing resembling Iceworm’s underground rocket network,” Nielsen said.

Last month, astatine the World Economic Forum successful Switzerland, Trump ruled retired utilizing subject unit to return the island, but insisted the United States needs Greenland for national security. “All we are asking for is to get Greenland, including right, title and ownership because you need the ownership to take sides it,” he said. “You can’t take sides it connected a lease.”

600 nukes nether ice

In the 1960s, arsenic Project Iceworm was being evaluated by the Department of Defense, the U.S. had conscionable started operating Camp Century, a nuclear-powered technological station successful northwestern Greenland almost 130 miles distant from the island’s coast, besides a tract for covert subject activity.

By that time, the Army was touting the guidelines arsenic a cutting-edge “city nether ice” for Arctic investigation successful PR campaigns connected American media, while besides secretly utilizing it arsenic a testbed to find whether rocket tunnels nether the crystal expanse were feasible.

“The conception takes advantage of Northern Greenland’s remoteness from populated areas, its comparative closeness to Soviet targets, the unsocial adaptability of the Icecap to atomic deployment, and the proximity of the Thule Base,” according to a 1962 declassified Army study titled “The U.S. Army’s Iceworm Concept” and forwarded to The Times by Nielsen.

Thule, now called Pituffik Space Base, was built during World War II, 1 of respective subject installations established during the war. It erstwhile held arsenic galore arsenic 10,000 U.S. subject personnel. In 1946, 3 years earlier the creation of NATO, the Truman management projected buying Greenland for $100 cardinal successful gold, but the Danes didn’t judge the bid, according to Department of State documents declassified successful the 1970s.

2nd Lt. Peter B. Moulton, standing, uses a surveying instrumentality during the building of Camp Century, a U.S. subject guidelines successful Greenland, successful June 1959.

(Pictorial Parade/Getty Images)

Plans for Project Iceworm considered placing about 600 missiles, astatine slightest 4 miles apart, successful a deployment area arsenic ample arsenic Alabama, according to the report. Mounted connected obstruction lines, the missiles could beryllium moved about to evade discovery by the Soviets. This setup, the study said, would let launching sites to beryllium “relatively invulnerable” to force warheads, requiring a “massive broad Soviet thermonuclear attack” to destruct Iceworm launchers.

The missiles would beryllium be hidden “28 feet beneath the aboveground of the Icecap,” almost the tallness of a three-story building.

For that reason, scientists drilled into Greenland’s crystal halfway to study its sub-layers and measure if Iceworm tunnels were viable. The activity produced a nonmilitary use by gathering information that “helped uncover Earth’s ambiance history complete the past 100,000 years,” says Ronald Doel, a professor of history astatine Florida State University who co-edited the book “Exploring Greenland: Cold War Science and Technology connected Ice.”

“Iceworm’s imaginable committedness surely helped authorities officials to endorse and clasp the building of Camp Century,” he said. “At the aforesaid time, investigation connected Greenland’s situation was so required to successfully run location and elsewhere successful the Arctic.”

Some of those findings, for instance, were important for uncovering the effects of ambiance change. The stiff ungraded and crystal collected beneath Camp Century provided scientists an early lengthy and elaborate grounds of Earth’s ambiance from the past 100,000 years, pioneering the benignant of paleoclimatologic investigation that showed really quality activities are warming the planet.

A Swiss-made snowfall removal instrumentality cuts a trench during the building of Camp Century successful Greenland successful 1959.

(Pictorial Parade/Getty Images)

Project Iceworm’s legacy

Project Iceworm was shelved successful 1962, aft it was deemed excessively technically difficult — the crystal expanse shifts — and arsenic the Navy and Air Force pursued little burdensome projects connected Greenland. Also, American officials weren’t judge if Danes would backmost the endeavor.

Also, erstwhile Camp Century was decommissioned about 5 years aft Project Iceworm was scrapped, the Army near hazardous discarded behind, specified arsenic up to 52,000 gallons of diesel and radioactive materials, residues from the mini atomic reactor that had powered the base.

Now, arsenic the island’s crystal melts because of ambiance change, those contaminants mightiness beryllium thrown into the environment. “The remnants of Camp Century are being carried to the westbound seashore of Greenland arsenic crystal flows successful the crystal cap, and astatine immoderate constituent will beryllium exposed,” Doel said.

This is, erstwhile more, different portion of bad news for Greenlanders. As the Inuit has gained much governmental independency from Denmark successful the past fewer decades, specified arsenic location norm status, it besides whitethorn foster a acold much fierce guidance against American subject moves connected the island.

“Today, Iceworm serves chiefly arsenic a humanities reminder that the U.S. has often viewed Greenland chiefly done a information lens — pinch constricted information for Greenlandic governmental interests,” Nielsen said.