Most telling is that the US has little in the way of suitable military resources or experience for the Arctic. It is, for once, European Nato allies, especially the Scandinavians and Britain, who have Arctic-ready forces.

One military source noted that in last year’s Joint Viking exercise in northern Norway, American troops struggled.

Exercise commanders had to ask Finnish reservists, the most formidable Arctic warriors, who were playing the role of invaders in the war games, to go easy on the Americans. “The Finns had to be told to stop beating the Americans as it was embarrassing and demoralising for them,” a military source said.